Debts
by onlooker
Summary: If love was a debt incurred from past lives, then admiration was probably a reminder of something left undone... Set at the ending of the anime, and explores the possibility that it was Kantarou's past life that had sealed the Goblin. Definitely Harukan
1. disturbing dreams

Love, was probably a debt incurred from your past lives

Habits, were probably hints of your past happenings

Desire, was probably something that you have been hunting down for a long, long time.

Admiration, was probably a reminder of something left undone…

* * *

**Disturbing dreams**

"_Why won't you listen to reason?" _

"_I'm a goblin! Goblins do things in their own way. Don't get into the way, please. Else I would have to treat you as an enemy one day."_

"_Then I'll have to stop you before its too late, isn't it?"_

"_What are you talking about?"_

_The smaller man, dressed in traditional exorcist costume open his eyes and stared at the goblin sadly. He stepped forward and gave the tall goblin a light peck on the cheek. And turned back, refusing to look at the goblin._

"_I'm really sorry. I have to stop you. Please hate me…" With that, the young exorcist clasped his hands and began chanting. He threw out a scroll which unrolled and bound tightly to the black-winged goblin._

"_What are you doing? Stop it!" The Goblin growled, trying to unbind himself. But all was too late. The ceremony had started, and the rock meant to seal the goblin up had cracked open._

_The young exorcist could not tear his eyes away from the goblin that he was about to seal up. As the rock was about to close up, the goblin looked up into the young exorcist's eyes and his eyes glittered in hate and anger._

_When the rock had closed up, the young exorcist rushed forward and hugged the big rock, tears dropping uncontrollably from his red eyes. The tears splashed over the rock and some dropped onto the floor._

"_No one can break this seal except the tears from my soul." The young exorcist whispered to the rock. With that, the young exorcist chanted the sealing spell onto the rock. "This is my last present to you…" _

"_The next time when I wake you up, the world would have become more peaceful and you would forget about all this bloodthirstiness. Let me be the only person that you would hate…"_

_And the young exorcist gave the rock a kiss before turning his back and walking down the long flight of stairs, never to come back again._

_Why must you do that? _

_He would not be grateful to you…_

_**I know it…**_

"Kan chan!"

_You should have just killed him…_

_**But I can't leave him alone…**_

_He's going to get you for revenge_

**_So be it…I can fine with that…_**

"Kan chan!"

_**I am fine with that… Because…**_

_He will get you for revenge…_

"Kan chan!"

_Revenge…_

_Revenge…_

_**Because… I love him…

* * *

**_

"Kan chan wake up!" Youko shook her sleeping master violently.

Kantarou woke up, the action of him springing his eyes open caused tears brimming in his eyes to trickle from the side of his eye. He laid still, stunned, staring blankly into Youko's large brown eyes.

"Kan chan?" Youko asked, worried. she placed her hand onto Kantarou's forehead to check for any signs of a fever.

The action from youko snapped Kantarou out of his daze, and he quickly smiled his trademark smile, eyes shifting back into that smart, know-all gaze he always held as a scholar of folklorism.

"Its nothing much…" Kantarou smiled, getting out of bed.

"You're lying through your teeth…" Youko grumbled, obviously not convinced.

Kantarou gave a small laugh. "It's really nothing much. I just had a funny dream, that's all."

_That's really all there is to it…_ Kantarou thought. _Only it has been the third time this week…

* * *

_

A/N: This idea has been bugging me ever since i watched the last few episodes of Tactics, and so there you are... This is the first fanfic I've posted here... be nice... thanx a lot!


	2. Since when?

Ack! I forgot a disclaimer last week! Can I just put one here? haahaa I sort of can't find my file in the documents page... puzzled

**Disclaimer:** I just spent the last bit of my money on a brand new Tactics VCD bought on discount! mwahahahahaha... but thats not owning Tactics... I am just a poor student after all... wails

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**Since when?**

_Since when, had I noticed something more about you?  
__Since when, did I start expecting more from us?  
_

Kantarou stared absently at the window from his writer's table. The brush was gripped idly in his hand, and a thick black blot had started to form under the tip of the brush.

_Tears of my soul… What did it mean?_ Kantarou thought to himself.

He caught a sight of Haruka flying over his window to rest on the rooftop. And his mind wandered off to the recent spate of incidents that he and Haruka had been through.

_You like the Ogre-eating goblin, don't you?_

_Haruka, its unexplainable, but I can't unbind your name. I can only tell you to do what you want to do. If you feel that you want to kill me, I won't stop you..._

_Kantarou, I tried to kill you. Not only now, but way before. Therefore I am not able to return to you anymore._

_I won't run away anymore!_

_If my memories come back to me, I might try to kill you again. Are you fine with that?_

A smile lit up on the young exorcist's face. Haruka was back to him already. That was all that mattered.

_You like the Ogre-eating goblin, don't you?_

Kantarou suddenly remembered the words of Raikou. and recalled the contents of his strange dream came back again.

The young exorcist could not tear his eyes away from the goblin that he was about to seal up. As the rock was about to close up, the goblin looked up into the young exorcist's eyes and his eyes glittered in hate and anger.

His heart ached upon remembering. Such beautiful eyes, a pity to have such hatred etched within. In his dream, he was the person who was standing in front of the rock. He was the person who was responsible for the torture of the ogre-eating goblin. He gave a small painful sigh.

His feelings for Haruka started as a pure emotion of admiration, of wanting to become stronger, like the wonderful ogre-eating goblin he's always seen and heard about since young.

Since when had those feelings changed into something more?

"Haruka…" Kantarou whispered softly to himself.

"Yes?" A voice behind him replied, startling Kantarou out of his wits. He whipped around, and saw Haruka looking at him. A quick blush spread over his cheeks, and he hid it by turning back and pretended to be busy with the huge inkblot on it, pretending to make an attempt to 'salvage' the blank piece of writing paper.

"There's nothing on the piece of paper. You can throw it away." Haruka commented in a stoic tone.

Kantarou flushed to a bright red, this time of embarrassment. "Oh yes! Why didn't I think of it?"

"That's because your mind was wandering 800 miles away from here."

Kantarou retorted with a tinge of indignance, "Excuse me, I was 800 miles away looking for INSPIRATION."

"I didn't know you could find inspiration in my name."

A quick blush crept over Kantarou's cheeks again, as he searched in his brain a good retort for his remark.

"I wasn't finding inspiration for your name!" Kantarou retorted lamely.

Haruka laughed. Ever since he made up his mind fully enjoy his time with humans (i.e. his master), he had become more cheerful. Master and goblin began to laugh over the small matter until Haruka stopped, staring at Kantarou as though he had recalled something.

----

_It was a full moon on the sky. Autumn was the season, and leaves were falling randomly onto the bed of the forest floor._

_2 men stood in the center of the forest. One was tall, and had black wings mounted magnificently on his back. The other was a younger, slightly smaller man, dressed in exorcist clothing._

_The young exorcist smiled at him._

"_See? I didn't lie to you."_

* * *

A/N:  
**Logical self:** Errrrrrr... thats chapter 2... not much into the action yet though... I don't know why its not coming out yet... sounds like a lot of fluff though...  
**Romantic self:** Patience, logic! You'll ruin the plot!  
**Logical self:** You mean there was a plot out of ur feathered brain?

Oh I'm so happy! I have 3 reviews! This is the first time i get reviews! Thanx Goku chan, Tsuzuki Yuki n Nefertari! Yes I will continue the story with your support!


	3. Beautiful dream

**Disclaimer: **Don't own, don't sell,won't buy. I already have a set of Tactics CD. Then again I wouldn't have the money to buy... So I still don't own the anime after all...

**Beautiful dream**

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Last night, I thought I had finally found the real paradise 

When I woke up, all was but a beautiful dream...

Then yet again, was what I saw purely a dream?

* * *

"_Where's this wonderful place you want me to bring you to?" The goblin asked. The young exorcist had promised to bring him to a wonderful place, and requested the goblin to 'fly' him to the place._

"_Don't ask first! Just follow my instructions and bring me there. You'll see for yourself later." The young exorcist replied._

_The goblin gave a grunt and followed the young exorcist's instructions. Soon, they reached what looked like the center of the forest. Autumn was the season, and leaves were falling randomly onto the bed of the forest floor. The goblin made a landing and they reached the center of the forest, stepping onto the forest floor._

"_So, what is there to see?" the goblin asked._

_The young exorcist replied. "There's a story behind the trees in this part of the forest."_

_The goblin raised an eyebrow in surprise, but allowed the exorcist to continue._

"_These trees are said to be the Moon goddess's trail to the human world. Every time, when there is a full moon, the moon goddess would follow the trail of leaves down onto earth. And she leaves a mark on each single leaf that she steps on so that she would remember her way back to the moon palace before the sun rises up."_

_When he finished speaking the moon had just risen high, and moonlight poured in. As the leaves caught the moonlight in certain angles, it gave off light reflections and it looked as though a trail had been formed, all ready for the descent of the moon goddess onto the earth._

_The goblin stared at the beautiful arcof lightin surprise. He had been around this forest for a long period of time, yet he had never realized this natural phenomena occurring before. Dumbstruck, he took a step forward and attempted to touch the arc of light, awed by its beauty._

_The young exorcist turned and smiled at the goblin._

"_See? I didn't lie to you. This is a wonderful place, isn't it?"

* * *

_

Haruka woke up. It was not often that he had dreams like that. He got up and walked around, opening his room door to reveal a sleeping Kantarou sprawledover his writer's table.

Haruka hardly knew why, but he brought out a jacket and he draped it over his sleeping master's form.

_I wonder what kind of dream he's having now…_ Haruka thought idly before going back into his room.

As the room door closed, he missed his sleeping master, Kantarou mumbling very softly.

"See... I didn't lie to you…"

* * *

A/N: I have 2 more reviews! It really boosts one's motivation!Heez thanx so much Black Angel of Destruction and Ruby-dream. 

The story is going on a little slow now, so please be patientwith me as I try to untie my own knots. I have the whole story direction out, but i still have a problem linking it... heez


	4. Looking for an answer 1

**Disclaimer:** Firstly, I don't draw. Second, I'm not good in writing. Conclusion: I don't own Tactics. (by the side: long siiiiiiiiiiiiighz)

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**Looking for an answer **

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Tell me the reason why I can't stop thinking about it

Give me an answer why I keep dreaming about you...

* * *

"Arrrrrrgh!" Kantarou groaned from his writer's table, which was piled with lots of reference and reading materials. Youko and Haruka peered over the door to take a better look. 

"What are you looking for, Kan chan?" Youko asked.

"The myth of the moon goddess descending onto earth by leaving a trail of moon light…" Kantarou answered, stretching his back to indicate taking a break. Haruka's eyes widened at the mention of the myth.

"This sounds new… what myth is it? Where is the myth being spread?" Youko asked, filled with interest.

"I don't know where it is being spread. Actually more accurately, I don't even know if this myth exists." Kantarou answered, giving a helpless smile.

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Youko exclaimed in disbelief. "You don't know if the myth actually existed!"

"Um… yeah…"

"Then how did you come to know this myth? Is this a story made up on your own?" Youko asked.

Kantarou appeared flustered. "Ummmm… Its not really…"

"Did you hear the story from someone?"

"I'm not sure if u can exactly say it, but yeah…"

"If you heard it from somewhere then it should have spread from a region isn't it?"

Kantarou gave a sheepish smile. "I know that… but the dr… no, the person who told me the story didn't tell me where he came from…"

Haruka suddenly stood up, and walked out of the door.

"Haruka?" Youko asked, shocked by the goblin's sudden reaction. She and Youko quickly followed after Haruka.

"Kantarou, I need to find something. I'll be back before night time." Haruka spoke, turning his head to give Kantarou a knowing smile, but Kantarou wasn't too sure what the smile signified.

"Oh… Okay…" Kantarou and Youko watched in bewilderment as Haruka disappeared into the vastness of the blue sky.

* * *

"Moon goddess?" Reiko asked in surprise. 

"Errrr, yes…" Kantarou asked sheepishly.

Reiko shook her head. "Sensei, I'm sorry, but I have not heard of anyone talking of this myth before."

"Oh… just as what I thought…" Kantarou muttered.

"Sensei, you're more well versed in these folktale information much more than I do. Shouldn't you have a clearer idea than me?" Reiko replied.

Kantarou gave a sheepish smile. "Well, I guess you have a point. But I was thinking if I had missed out anything so I thought of coming to ask if you've heard of this myth or at least, something close to it…"

Reiko put her finder against her chin, and appeared to be in deep in thought.

"hmmm… I couldn't think of any after all…"Reiko replied, after a while.

Kantarou got up and replied, "It's all right really. Sorry to have troubled you. I think I should get going now."

* * *

Haruka landed on the forest floor and looked around. After deciding that it was not what he was looking for, he spread his wings and flew away to search again. 

_Why am I doing this…_ Haruka thought idly to himself. After a short while, he came to the conclusion that he, too, wanted to know if the myth really existed.

He wanted to know if the dream was just a figment of his imagination or if it had really happened to him before.

He needed an answer.

* * *

A/N: I need an answer too... groan 

I'm still trying to untie my own knot... But I should be able to untie the biggest oneby the next chapter, heh heh...  
but that also means Icannot post anything before I untie it heh heh...

**Logical self:** You should have juz let me write it...

**Romantic self**: Nope. You suck at this.

**Logical self**: ... ...

I have another 3 reviews! thanx Anifantwist and Tsuzuki Yuki! Thechapters should come in faster after my last knot is sorted out! Thanx once again!


	5. looking for an answer 2

**Disclaimer:** After the preliminary round of inspection, I've come to the conclusion that I don't own any anime. (duh)  
heeheehee...

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**Looking for an answer (2)**

* * *

Kantarou sat down next to his writer's table which was piled up high with reference mateials. 

He took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles, and rolled up his sleeves.

"All right! Lets try this again!" and buried himself deep into the thick pile of books.

* * *

"Oh I have a rare guest!" Sugino exclaimed in surprise as his black winged guest entered his cave. (A/N: is that a cave or a tree house? I cant remember… so I'll juz assume.. haahaa…) 

"What did you come here for? Oh no, did you have another fight with Kantarou?" Sugino asked.

"No… that's not it." Haruka replied curtly.

"Then what are you here for?" Sugino asked, heaving a silent breath of relief he wouldn't have to put up with Haruka for another X months.

"I'm just taking a break." Came another short reply from Haruka.

"What break?"

"I was looking for something."

"What were you looking for?" Sugino pressed on, looking keenly into Haruka's eyes. Haruka suddenly bolted, as if remembering something, and grabbed Sugino's shoulders.

"That's it!" Haruka exclaimed to the confused Sugino.

"What's it?" Sugino asked. "Stop giving me riddles! Just fill me in already!"

"Sugino, I should have thought of it earlier! You should have known what my lost memories were, don't you?"

A sweat drop appeared on Sugino's forehead.

* * *

"Not here either…" Kantarou muttered to himself and closed the thick reference book and took a break, resting his hands on his forehead, rubbing the temples on either side for a short while. 

He had been not been sleeping well the past few nights, and could feel a slight headache brewing within his head.

Whilst rubbing his temples, he saw the slightest image of something which he felt familiar, and felt his eyelids grow heavy.

* * *

_The young exorcist stood in front of a huge, ancient tree and appeared to be staring at the roots of the tree. A black winged goblin flew in from above and stood silently behind the young exorcist, observing the young exorcist intently._

_The young suddenly crouched down, and a group of small monsters came out from the roots of the tree._

"_Here! Don't disturb the tree again ok? Go and play around! Don't irritate uncle tree anymore!" The young exorcist reprimanded the monsters gently. The monsters obeyed, and scurried off to other places in the forest._

_The young exorcist then turned around and looked at the Goblin._

_The goblin smiled at the young exorcist._

* * *

Sugino gave a sigh before taking up his rice bowl filled with wine and bringing it to his lips. 

Haruka looked at him intently, waiting for him to speak.

"You said you had these recurring dreams?" Sugino said finally, lifting his rice bowl from his lips. Haruka nodded.

Sugino gave another sigh. "So these memories are coming back to you too… I thought you would have forgotten them…"

Haruka leaned forward instantaneously. "What about them?"

"Listen carefully first ok? I don't know about the exact details myself."

Haruka nodded, and waited for Sugino to continue.

"But you'll have to promise me that no matter what you remember, you cannot blame him."

"Who?" Haruka asked.

"Here. Let me bring you to the place you're looking for." Sugino replied, giving Haruka a silent smile.

* * *

_The young exorcist turned his back towards the goblin again. Puzzled, the goblin took a step closer to the young exorcist._

_Teardrops splashed onto the roots of the big tree, and the goblin realized that the young exorcist was crying._

"_Hey, tell me what's wrong, won't you?" the goblin asked, placing his hand onto the young exorcist's shoulder, voice laced with concern._

_The young exorcist's lips moved._

_The goblin looked at the young exorcist intently._

* * *

Kantarou awoke, sitting up in shock. He shook his head a few times as if to shake the dream away. 

Dusk had begun to set in, and the sky had begun to darken. Looking at the sky, Kantarou absently gripped the next reference book and set it onto this writer's table, flipping it to a random page.

Kantarou's eyes fell onto the contents of the page.

It was about a tree which was rumoured to have the powers to transcend through time, and allow people to look at their past lives.

Kantarou's eyes widened. And carefully read the contents of the page again.

He hardly knew why, but he quickly stood up from his writing table and dashed out of the house.

As if he found an answer.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Kantarou had reached the place that he wanted to reach. He treaded in the forest carefully, as if not wanting to disturb the beings in the forest. 

As he looked about in the forest he saw 2 familiar silhouettes.

"Haruka!" Kantarou called in surprise, causing the black winged goblin to turn around and look at Kantarou. Sugino turned his head in response too.

"Kantarou? What are you doing here?" Haruka was clearly as surprised as his master.

"Well I… I saw something from my reference books and I thought I wanted to come here and take a look…" Kantarou said lamely. Telling Haruka he came on a sudden urge would not suffice as a good reason.

"Is it got to do with the myth you said this morning?" Haruka pressed on.

Kantarou was mildly surprised. "You were listening to me? You suddenly left the house…"

Haruka was stumped for words. Telling him about the dream he had earlier on didn't sound like a good reason why he left the house.

"I… Errr…" Haruka opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Sugino interrupted them by putting a finger to his lips. "Shhh. It's coming." And indicated for them to look upwards.

Kantarou and Haruka looked upwards as indicated by Sugino. It didn't take them long to see what they wanted to see.

Kantarou gasped. It was not a beautiful arc of light that he had seen in his dreams, but it created some sort of light illusion and captivated Kantarou's eyes.

"Its… It's the path of the moon goddess…" Kantarou whispered, as if there was really a moon goddess treading on this light trail, and would disappear if he spoke too loudly.

"Yeah…" Haruka whispered in response, as if thinking on the same lines as his master.

Both of them looked at each other, and suddenly asked the same question at once.

"How did you know I was looking for this place?" Surprised by each other's questions, both kept quiet for some time.

"I saw it in a dream…" Haruka replied. Kantarou widened his eyes in shock.

"So did I." He whispered softly, staring into the black eyes of Haruka, which suddenly looked soft and gentle, unlike the usual tinge of coldness he held in his gaze.

The magical moment was broken by Haruka's question.

"Why are we having the same dreams?" He asked.

"What do we not know?" Kantarou countered with another question.

"Did I meet you before? Before I was sealed up into the rock?" Haruka asked, more to himself than as a question directed to Kantarou.

Kantarou shook his head. "I don't know…"

All thoughts were suddenly put on hold when a flash of bright light was emitted from the tree. The light was so blinding that Sugino used his hands to shield some light from his eyes.

When he opened them however, Kantarou and Haruka were nowhere to be seen.

They had disappeared together with the fading of light.

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A/N: Whew! i think i juz wrote another cliff hanger... sorrie Tsuzuki yuki n anifantwist! XD 

I have 3 more reviews! Really thanx to Tsuzuki yuki n anifantwist for reviewing my every chapter! and thanx Kaori chan! This chapter is slightly longer, so i hope you like it better! X)


	6. What is your name?

**Disclaimer: **I looked through my collection of books. None of them were written by me. (looks closer) And none of them are called Tactics.

I reposted this chapter... Tsuzuki Yuki, thanx for telling mi! (smilez)

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**What is your name?** _

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What is your name?  
__I want to know it._

What is your name? 

_What is your name?  
__I wish to understand it._

_What is your name?  
__I hope to remember it._

* * *

It had to be a trap. The goblin could smell it the moment he reached the marshes. It was so empty, yet it smelt and felt so wrong. 

The goblin felt no fear. He knew that the trap had to be the works of ogres, demons possessed by aradamas and hated him to the core to try to bring him down.

A small demon appeared suddenly in front of him and attempted to snatch his weapon away. Furious, the goblin raised his staff and cast lightning in the direction of the small demon.

Before the flash of lightning hit the small ogre, another ogre jumped out and carried the smaller ogre away to safety. After jumping some distance far off from the goblin, the 2 ogres turned around and sneered at the goblin.

Angered by the action, the goblin picked up his staff and aimed towards the 2 ogres. However, the 2 ogres seemed to have dodged the staff in time, and the staff plunged towards a dead tree.

The goblin cursed, and raised his hand to call back his staff. However, to his horror, the staff did not return to his hand, but remained stuck on the dead tree. At the same moment, a huge swarm of ogres rushed out and attempted to pin down the goblin.

The goblin snarled and clawed at the ogres closest to him in an attempt to break free, but it without much success as he was vastly outnumbered.

When it appeared to the goblin that he was totally cornered, a young man suddenly appeared on the marshes.

Not a far distance off, a young man watched the fight. Suddenly, he ran forward to where the staff was stuck to the tree. He took out a string of prayer beads, and began to chant something intently.

"… … Zen!" A bright yellow glow emitted from the dead tree and soon after the dead tree exploded. Grabbing the chance, the goblin beckoned the staff to him once more and this time the staff obeyed.

Angered by the huge swarm of ogres who attempted to corner him, the goblin raised his hand and cast a huge bolt of lightning and swept it over the whole marshland, killing everything on the spot, reducing them to smoke and ashes.

Afterthe smoke and ashes slowly fadedto revealthe bodies of dead ogres were sprawled all over the marshland, the goblin noticed the presence of the young man. He raised his staff and cast a bolt of lightning in the young man's direction. However, a spread of talisman papers spread out into a shield in front of the young man and diverted the bolt of lightning.

On the young man's part, he quickly flung out a long scroll that bound tightly to the goblin. The goblin struggled with his might to break free, but was stopped timely by a piece of talisman paper slapped onto his forehead.

"Stop struggling. I just want to talk to you. You're going to hurt yourself the more you struggle." The young man commanded.

As if to demonstrate, the young man removed the talisman on the goblin's forehead.

"Firstly, you walked into a trap just now. Didn't you realise it?That tree had something inside that would prevent you from calling your staff back. I broke the spell and released your staff, else you would have become dead meat."

"Secondly, you attacked someone on your own side without asking properly. That is very dangerous! I could have died if I hadn't reacted in time!"

The goblin retorted indignantly. "I didn't ask for your help."

"You accepted it anyway, like it or not. And I'm not finished! It's impolite to interrupt!" the young man rebutted back.

"Lastly, I am an exorcist assigned by the neighbouring village to get rig of these ogres. Though you did my job for me, I am extremely displeased with the way you did it. You could have just exorcised the evil within them by getting rid of their aradamas within them. You didn't have to kill every single one of them. I hope I don't see you doing it the next time, Ogre-eating goblin."

The goblin looked shocked. "You knew who I was? Why did you still help me?"

The young exorcist looked insulted. "I am an exorcist. Of course I know what a goblin looks like, especially the Ogre-eating goblin." With that, the young exorcist released his scroll from the goblin and walked away.

The goblin looked stunned. Nobody ever walked away breezily after giving the goblin a lecture.

And it was a young exorcist on top of anything.

* * *

It was just like any other day where the young exorcist walked down the streets of the town after a job. The weather was good, and he decided to take a walk down the river, the usual spot that he always loved to go to when he had many things on his mind. 

It had always been his passion to interact with spirits and demons, and he always believed in 'counseling' them if they did evil. If exorcism was absolutely necessary, he would only try to exorcise the evil bead, the aradama that possessed them and get rid of them.

Not a very lucrative way to do business, the people around him always agreed. It meant a much longer fight in order to exorcise evil yet not kill them, not to say it also meant it would be more dangerous.

Did they also mention that it was also an easy way to get misunderstood by people?

The young exorcist crouched down along the riverbank, and splashed the river water around with his hands idly.

As the ripples cleared, the exorcist was surprised to see a pair of black wings reflected by the water, disrupting him from his pool of disturbing thoughts.

The owner of the pair of wings was perched on top of a tree. He carried a nonchalant expression on his face, and it seemed like he was a person who never got boggled down by unnecessary emotions.

Something suddenly stirred in the young exorcist's heart. Was the goblin always like this?

Were emotions that unnecessary to the goblin?

Can he really just kill on basic instinct?

What could he be thinking of at that moment in time?

The young exorcist suddenly had an urge to know. He had a sudden desire to get closer to the goblin, to understand him better. He wanted to talk to the goblin as a friend, due to reasons he hardly understood.

Plucking up his courage, the young exorcist stood up and made his way over to the tree where the owner of the black wings were perched upon.

The black winged goblin stood on the tree silently, looking over to where the river was. He was doing nothing, or thinking of nothing.

"Konnichiwa!" A chirpy voice rang into his ears, and he looked to the direction of the sound, hiding his initial shock.

"You're the Onikui, aren't you?" the owner of the voice smiled, and gave goblin a slight bow. "How do you do?"

The goblin remained silent, random thoughts suddenly running through his mind. The icy expression on the goblin's face remained plastered across his face.

The young exorcist felt a small pang of disappointment at the goblin's reaction. _But it was expected,_ he thought to himself. _After all, he's the strongest of all goblins. Can't expect him to trust or interact properly with humans, right?_

But he decided to give it another try before he totally gave up.

After all he still had a card on his hands. He only hoped it was the trump card he was looking for.

The young exorcist suddenly tsked. The goblin looked down again at the young exorcist who was looking at the ground, wondering what he wanted to do.

The goblin raised an eyebrow, anticipating something.

The young exorcist looked up and pouted, making a hurt face to the goblin. "Is that how you treat your saviour? Shouldn't I get a least a small greeting?"

The black winged goblin's face turned sour. "I didn't ask for your protection."

"You took it, like it or not." A smirk appeared on the young exorcist's face.

"Whatever." The goblin said, crossing his arms, making a face. The young exorcist smirked inwardly.

_Was he showing a black face?_

Anyway, that was still a better reaction. The young exorcist put down a mental score in his head.

So that meant he could still try to take things a little further.

"So where is my greeting?" the young exorcist insisted.

A smallest tinge of pink appeared on the black goblin's face, whilst his mind went into a whirlpool of thoughts.

_What's with this guy? Why is he so insistent?_

_This is a human! And an exorcist on top of that! What pride do I have if I listen to him?_

_Maybe he's just trying to be nice?_

_But he's a dangerous person! An exorcist! What is this, a trap?_

_Doesn't look like one…_

_But now, what should I do?_

_Should I greet him? Should I ignore him?_

"H… hi…" the gobln managed to choke out, spending what seemed to be an eternity to make the decision. The young exorcist found it extremely amusing.

"Hi there!" The young exorcist replied back, pleased at the reaction. He decided to venture one more step further.. "I was looking for a partner to join me in some river-gazing. Why don't you join me, right here?

The goblin looked indignant. "Why should I?"

The young exorcist pouted and pretended to look hurt again.

The goblin groaned inwardly. He was playing with his trump card again. Somewhere, within the deepest depths of his heart, something told him that the pouting face of the young exorcist actually looked cute.

He crushed that insignificant voice almost instantaneously.

"Are you making a decision yet?" the voice from below the tree rang up again.

The goblin sighed loudly. He did not know what the young man was thinking about, but he knew that if he were to remain silent, he would probably be pestered non-stopped.

Resigning, he hid his huge black wings and jumped down from the tree to look into the young exorcist's eyes at eye level.

The young exorcist beamed widely. Somewhere, within the depths ofthe goblin'sicy heart, something began to melt.

Nonetheless, all things at the beginning stage were awkward. Man and goblin sat quietly under a tree in awkward silence. Both had thousands of questions to ask the other, yet both too shy to break the silence (or is it ice?) in between.

The young exorcist suddenly sighed. "Are we going to stay like this until sunset?"

The goblin blushed slightly. How was one supposed to deal with a human, and a bubbly one at that?

"Thank you." The goblin said, his tone as mixture of sulkiness and awkwardness.

"You're welcome." The young exorcist replied chirpily.

"Why?" The word left the goblin's lips even before he could stop himself. He realized that he wanted to know more about this young exorcist too. Why he wasn't afraid of him, and why he was smiling to him like his old friend, and most importantly, why was his presence so comfortable.

"Why what?" the young exorcist replied, amused.

"Why… did you help me out yesterday." The goblin fumbled.

The young exorcist smiled at the goblin, who was looking elsewhere. He studied the finely chiseled features of the goblin carefully, and something in his mind suddenly told him that the goblin looked attractive.

He stomped the disturbing thought out of his mind immediately.

"I can't." The young exorcist replied shortly.

"Why?" the goblin turned around and stared into the exorcist's eyes, surprised by the answer.

The young exorcist pretended to roll his eyes, as if the goblin just asked the stupidest question in the universe.

"Because it breaks my principles." He said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"How?" the goblin countered, becoming more interested in the conversation.

"First of all, you're not evil, and you're not possessed by an aradama. I only exorcise evil, not kill all things that are non-human." He raised an eyebrow to the goblin, as if hinting something implicitly. The goblin decided to ignore the hidden message.

"Secondly, you kill demons that cause harm to people. Though I really cannot say I like the way you do it, but this alone will not form a good reason for me to leave you to die yesterday."

The goblin's eyes widened in surprise.

"And thirdly…" the young exorcist trailed off, contemplating if he should say it out.

"What? The goblin reacted immediately and stared into the young exorcist's eyes. His curiosity got the better of the supposedly cold-hearted goblin.. The young exorcist's eyes were suddenly locked into black orbs of the goblin, and he felt a surge of something unknown surge up his heart, causing it to beat fast.

"Nothing…" The young exorcist said at last, tearing himself away from the intensive glance of the goblin. He stood up and got ready to leave.

"Wait!" The goblin called after him, and he turned in surprise.

"Yes?"

"What is your name?" the goblin asked. And cursed himself mentally for asking that question.

The young exorcist gave a really wide smile, and extended a free hand to the goblin.

"I'm Keitarou. Ichinomiya Keitarou."

* * *

A/N: My apologies... I had written this chapter a long time ago, but when i read it again, i discovered to my horror that it sucked. Big time. So i rewrote it... 

From this chapter onwards, I'm going to 'reveal' the story of their past lives 500 years ago, which i think is a good span of time heez..

I think Haruka is extremely OOC... but i dunno how to set him right... i tried... i swear i really did... (hides behind computer in shame)

Thanx Tsuzuki Yuki n Anifantwist for reviewing my every chapter! Thanx Goku Chan too! Its been a long time since I saw ur review! (very happiez)


	7. Karma

**Disclaimer: **Its a sad thing to keep reminding yourself that you **don't **own something but yes, for my case, i don't own. (sniff, sniff)

**

* * *

**

**Karma

* * *

**

Do not walk in front of me,  
I will find it difficult to follow.

Do not walk behind me,  
I may not be able to lead.

Walk together with me.  
We've got some sort of karma,

Don't we?

* * *

It had been a mere few weeks since the goblin met the young exorcist. 

Since then the goblin would stop by the huge tree where they parted, at around the same time, almost hoping to catch a small glimpse of the small framed, cheery young exorcist who called himself Ichinomiya Keitarou.

One day he came to a certain realization of what he was doing and slapped his palm across his forehead. "What the hell am I doing?" He cursed himself and flew off.

Only to come flying back the next day.

It was madness, he had firmly told himself everyday as he flew and perched onto the huge tree.

Goblins had no fixed home, and didn't need any.

Goblins didn't need companions.

Goblins didn't need someone to understand or talk to them.

Goblins, especially the black winged Onikui, rumoured to be the most powerful goblin in history, didn't need to be saved by humans.

Onikui looked down on the ground from the tree where he was perched on.

And cursed himself.

One small encounter with the human exorcist and he had allowed his lifestyle to be changed like that, so easily.

He hadn't flown to the mountains or any other places since the day he parted with the exorcist.

And cursed be himself, because he yearned for another opportunity to talk to the young exorcist again.

_Not because he was cute,_ a small stern voice in his mind quickly reminded.

At last he decided, that he couldn't carry on the way he was doing, because it was getting on his nerves too.

Whilst flying his way to the tree, he suddenly landed, not a far distance from one of the villages. Out of a whim, the black winged goblin hid his wings and approached the village.

* * *

"Akagi san, is this the haunted room you're talking about?" the young exorcist's voice ringed into the room from outside. A woman quickly stepped out to take a look, the features on her face contorted into a look of fear, and she half hid behind the door. 

"Y… yes… do something about it, Sensei…"

The young exorcist turned and gave a smile to the woman. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine later. Just stay inside the house and don't come out until I tell you to do so."

The woman nodded and quickly slammed the door shut from fear.

Keitarou turned to the door. the bells hung loosely on his wrist were giving faint rings. In addition, the 'battle scars' that Keitarou wore on his arm gave off pulses of intense pain.

"There's no doubt about it. There's got to be an ogre inside the room." Keitarou muttered to himself before pushing the doors of the room wide and stepping into it.

"Who's there!" A high pitched voice shrieked from the corner of the dark room. Keitarou responded by closing the door and throwing a talisman over the corner of the room. It reached the ogre.

* * *

The goblin opened his mouth in realization as he realized what he was doing. 

What the hell, I look just like a human! He cursed himself.

He turned and planned to go out of the village from where he came from, but stopped as he sensed a familiar spiritual force nearby.

Actually. It was two to be exact. One of them was the familiar scent of ogres whom were sworn enemies with him.

The other one was a less than familiar, almost strange scent.

He sniffed hard, hoping to recall the owner of the scent.

Could it be? The goblin suddenly skipped a beat.

He turned towards the scent and walked towards the source of the scent.

* * *

Keitarou was having a difficult time. The ogre that he was dealing with had evolved from a bone spirit, whose owner had died from a great grievance. 

Keitarou chanted something in immense concentration, opened his eyes and threw long string of prayer beads towards the spirit to bind the spirit. The spirit was trapped and shrieked in frustration.

Whilst thinking that the spirit is trapped, Keitarou stopped and rested, allowing a few pants of breath to escape from his mouth. Sweat was running profusely from his forehead, and he raised a hand to wipe it away.

Big mistake.

The ogre had been pretending to be trapped, and broke free as soon as Keitarou's hand covered his eye partially. Shrieking in anger, the bone spirit rushed to the young exorcist and placed it hands on the young exorcist's neck, attempting to strangle him.

The young exorcist struggled, his hands reaching behind the back of his hakama pants and took out a talisman hidden behind. He mouthed a quick chant and quickly slapped the talisman upon the ogre's forehead.

The ogre gave a cry and loosened his hold. Keitarou quickly completed the trapping formation that he had been forming in the room since the moment he stepped in.

The ogre increased its spiritual force by threefold and charged towards the Keitarou. Keitarou, on his part, moved quickly and led the ogre into the center of the formation. When all was complete, he threw in the prayer beads that he had always clasped on his hands. It was a last resort to bind the demon because if it wouldn't submit by then, Keitarou would have been left with no other weapons to bind the ogre and he would have to kill the ogre. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Light emitted from the formation and it seemed that the ogre was finally contained within the formation. Keitarou closed his eyes and concentrated on the cleansing chant to release the aradama within the ogre.

"Rin, Bin, Dou, Sha…" before he completed the chant however, the ogre broke free and sttempted to run away.

"AKAAAAAGI!" The spirit rasped in venom laced in its voice. Keitarou widened his eyes in shock.

The ogre reached for the opened window and attempted to escape. Dangerous as it was, Keitarou ran for the window and attempted to block the ogre with his unarmed body.

"Listen up…" Keitarou began and tried to counsel the enraged spirit.

"What are you doing idiot! Get away!" a new voice interrupted Keitarou. He gasped, and turned to face the owner of the voice.

The blacked winged goblin, known to the world as the Onikui.

The enraged spirit continued to charge towards Keitarou. Quick on his part, the young exorcist quickly rolled to safety by the side. Onikui raised the staff on his hand and directed a huge bolt of thunder towards the ogre.

"Don't kill it please!" the loud cry of the young exorcist reached the black winged goblin. To his surprise, the lightning bolt did not reach the ogre in one killing blow as it always did, but circled the ogre and trapped it, just as what the young exorcist requested for.

Onikui cursed the bolt of lightning for listening to the young exorcist so easily (conveniently forgetting the fact that the bolt of thunder was controlled by himself).

Keitarou quickly scrambled towards the other end of the room and picked up the prayer beads that he had flung out earlier and quickly chanted the cleansing spell. The air of vengeance left the spirit, breaking the aradama that possessed the spirit. The remains of the spirit fell to the floor, weakened.

Keitarou ran towards the spirit and took a closer look at it and realized it was the spirit of a young girl.

"Tell me what's wrong, won't you? Why are you reluctant to leave this world? What matters do you still have unsettled over here?" Keitarou asked in a gentle voice.

The girl broke down and cried. Keitarou held the spirit close to him, and stroked the hair slowly, gently.

"I needed money to give my mother a decent burial… Akagi san promised me to help me with the funeral arrangements, but she lied to me… I'm afraid to face my mother when I see her again." The spirit talked between sobs.

Keitarou's expression softened. "Is that your only concern?" He asked gently.

"The girl looked up into the kind eyes of the exorcist and nodded.

"Lets see where your mother is buried." Keitarou replied, standing up and helping the spirit up.

* * *

The Black winged goblin watched in silence as the young exorcist performed the proper rites for the funeral, for both the young girl's spirit, as well as for her mother. He inscribed onto a tablet the names of the girl and her mother, and stuck it firmly into the ground. 

The spirit bowed deeply in gratitude of the young exorcist, and fragments of her soul broke away as she remained in the bowing position. Very soon, there was nothing left of the spirit was bowing in front of the young exorcist.

Neither the exorcist nor the goblin said anything after the fragments disappeared into the air.

After a short while, the young exorcist broke the silence.

"Stay happy. You're a filial daughter. May you get reincarnated into a good family."

A warm breeze blew in and ruffled the hairs of both the young exorcist and the goblin.

"Aradamas possess spirits for a reason. Spirits didn't choose to become ogres because they are evil in nature. That's what I believe. That's why I insist on not killing them." The young exorcist spoke silently, more to himself rather than to the goblin standing silently behind him.

"You were almost killed." The goblin replied just as silently. The young exorcist turned and gazed into his black, deep orbs, the expression on his face unreadable.

"Seems like I got a debt from you now, don't I?" The young exorcist said in a tone of amusement, and smiled, as if just from realization. The goblin rolled his eyes. How could someone smile that brightly when he had just been killed moments ago?

"We do seem to have some kind of karma, don't we?" The young exorcist continued, smiling.

The goblin made no comment to his statement, though silently, he did think it was true to a certain extent.

The young exorcist bowed to the grave in front of him and turned to leave.

The goblin walked over to the young exorcist and walked a slight distance behind him, uncertain if his company was appreciated.

After a little while, the young exorcist broke the silence.

"Are you afraid of me, Onikui?" he asked with a slight snigger concealed in his voice.

"Not in a thousand years." The goblin retorted.

The young exorcist turned back with a mock-surprised look.

"Oh? Then why is it you do not dare to walk together with me?"

"……" the goblin opened his mouth, but was at a loss of finding a good answer for the young exorcist. The young exorcist slowed down his footsteps, and attempted to walk on par with the goblin. However, whenever he tried to do so, the goblin would take one huge step back, leaving the young exorcist in the front position again.

The young exorcist gave a sigh and carried on with his walking.

Someday, the young exorcist thought to himself, I'll make the onikui trust me enough to walk together with me. And made a secret smile so sweet, it was a pity that the goblin was not looking in his direction to catch it.

* * *

A/N: How do you like the short verse/sentence (?) I put in front of this chapter? Actually, I heard it from somewhere before but I cant remember where… I wanted to put in the whole chunk, just as how I had read it, but I forgot the full sentence… so I took some and I changed some… can someone kindly tell me the verse if you know it? I want to note it down… rather like it… heez 

Thanx to: Tsuzuki Yuki and Anifantwist who review my every chapter! P.s. TY, thanx for thinking my character is not dat OOC as I thought… heez

Thanx to n1m3-L0v3r for reviewing! Yup i will write more until i finish what i have for the plot! winkz..


	8. Understanding 1

**Disclaimer**: All Prima facie evidence have pointed towards the fact that I do not own Tactics.

* * *

**Understanding**

* * *

_You asked, as though it were an accident.  
I replied, as if it was a coincidence._

* * *

"Ohayou!" a chirpy voice rang up the ears of the goblin. He looked down the tree where he was sleeping on, and made a face to the owner of the voice. 

"Did you sleep well last night?" the young exorcist asked chirpily.

"No." The goblin replied dryly. "It got interrupted."

"Oh?" the young exorcist asked, feigning ignorance. "By whom?"

"By a noisy bird who says 'Ohayou' to me every morning." The goblin looked at the young exorcist passively.

"Awwwwww…" the young exorcist began, and pretended to think hard.

"Surely you're not referring to me." The young exorcist said, looking up to the goblin with a twinkle in his eyes.

"How so?" the goblin raised an eyebrow.

"Because I don't have wings on my back like you."

Stumped by the reply, the goblin looked away with his hands crossed over his chest. "Whatever."

He was surprised when the young exorcist laughed loudly at his own remark, and turned back to look at the young exorcist. The laughing face of the exorcist was so warm, it almost penetrated his icy defenses and he found himself wanting to laugh together with the young exorcist.

It took a lot of self-control not to.

"I am going for a job now… Would you be free in say 2 hours time?" The question was needless to ask. Keitarou knew that the goblin would definitely be free.

"What do you want?" the Goblin asked back.

"I thought of going to this wonderful place and I wondered if you could join me, after my job." The young exorcist replied.

"The goblin looked at the clouds forming in the sky and thought hard.

"I can try to be free during that time." He replied in a monotone voice.

Keitarou almost giggled at the answer. He had gotten used to it. One couldn't invite the Onikui directly. The Onikui would not agree. One couldn't expect a straight answer from the Onikui. It never happened. You should ask as if it was an accident, and he would answer as if it were a coincidence.

"Thanks! I'll walk past the river later. I'll see you then!" Keitarou waved before turning and leaving for his destination.

The goblin contemplated for a while before spreading his wings and followed the young exorcist at a further distance away.

* * *

"Just kill it, Sensei!" the impatient voice of the housekeeper rang in. The master of the mansion was believed to be ill from shock from evil spirits that attack him every night.

Keitarou shook his head. He turned to the small bundle of light spirits trapped within the formation that he had set up. There was no way they could have attacked anyone. They were too weak, and had no reason to. He could only think of it as a misunderstanding, and had to think of a way to rectify the situation. He reprimanded in a stern voice. "What have you done now?"

The spirits cried out. "Sire, we only danced when we thought there was no one… and we were dancing in this shed where no one had entered for months…"

Keitarou's eyes softened, but his voice remained stern. "Do you know you've frightened the master of the mansion and he's now in bed due to shock?"

"But Sire, we didn't do anything! We have not bothered with anyone before!"

"I know you didn't, but the servants in the mansion insist you are responsible for it. They think you are a bunch of evil spirits and will not rest until I have you guys killed."

The poor bundle of spirits wailed on hearing what the young exorcist said. "Please sir, we don't want to die!"

Keitarou smiled gently to the spirits. "I can help you, but you must promise to listen to me. Deal?"

The spirits nodded and jumped in glee. "Ok! Ok!" they shouted together.

Keitarou bent down and whispered. "Ok, here's the plan…"

* * *

The housekeeper watched as Keitarou took out his prayer beads and began to chant. Before he finished however, the abominable spirit broke free from his trap and escaped through the window, leaving traces of white light.

"Sensei! Do something!" The housekeeper screamed in fright.

Keitarou ran out of the room at once. "Don't worry, I will look for the spirit." And disappeared down the corridor into the garden of the mansion.

The light spirits had been instructed by Keitarou to pretend to break free from his incantations. Keitarou had purposely destroyed a small part of the formation he had drawn on the ground in order to trick the housekeeper.

He had felt the slightest pulse of pain when he stepped into the house, but it stopped as soon as the housekeeper had met up with him. He felt the only way to find out the true cause was to search the house for the ogre. However, the housekeeper seemed impatient and did not want to listen to Keitarou.

The light spirits returned to the Keitarou's side after he stepped out into the garden, Keitarou swiftly brought out a small bottle and the light spirits flew into the bottle. He then hid his bottle away as discreetly as he had brought it out.

Keitarou searched around, feeling the air carefully in the mansion. Suddenly, he felt a weak pulse of pain on his scar. He spun to the direction of the spirit force immediately, and walked towards it.

The spirit force led him into the house towards a room with huge sliding doors. However, as soon as he stopped in front of the room, the spirit force disappeared as soon as it appeared. Keitarou gaped in shock, not knowing what to react.

The sliding door swung open and a man stood before Keitarou.

No, it wasn't exactly a man.

Keitarou knew, because pain was pulsating through his scar.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Keitarou asked, body readying into a defense posture.

The man smirked. Suddenly, in a swift movement not caught by Keitarou's eye, the man suddenly appeared by the side of Keitarou and whispered.

"_Well done here, cutesy."_

Keitarou whipped around in surprise and glared at the man, who gave him a conspiring wink and seemed to disappear into fade air. Keitarou whipped a talisman out and attempted to stop the fading apparition. It hit the housekeeper who was running down the corridor.

Keitarou gasped. The housekeeper tore the talisman down from her forehead in disgust. "Sensei! What are you doing?"

Keitarou attempted to explain. "I found the spirit! It came from this room!"

The housekeeper scrunched her nose in disbelief. "That's not possible, that's our master's room!"

"I'm telling the truth. I need to take a look at this room. Please?" Keitarou pleaded. Staring at Keitarou with distrusting eyes, the housekeeper kept her eyes locked on the young exorcist as she walked backwards to the door of the room.

"Our master is not feeling well. You cannot speak to him at all. I will do the talking. You cannot step into the room too." She informed the young exorcist harshly. Nodding, Keitarou could not help but think that he was a walking virus and the housekeeper was doing him a huge favour by entertaining him.

"Sir, could I please have your permission to open the room? Sensei just needs to take a look at your room." The Housekeeper asked in changed new politeness. Keitarou silently marveled at the flexibility of her voice. (A/N: Potential Seiyuu. okie ignore mi here...)

A fit of coughing was heard, and a weak frail voice was heard from the room.

"Come… in…"

The housekeeper remained bowed as she pushed open the huge sliding door to reveal the frame of a young man, weak on the verge of the death, lying on the futon in the furthest corner of the big room. The room was dark, save for a few spots of light where candles are lit, and the windows of the room was tightly shut.

Keitarou looked at the young man carefully, and turned to look at the other parts of the room. The room seemed very normal, though a little darker than usual. He turned his gaze back to the young man who was lying on the futon, and almost got a shock.

Sitting on the body of the weak young master, was the man who talked to Keitarou moments ago.

Upon a more careful observation, Keitarou also realized that the man looked exactly like the frail young man whom he was sitting on. nobody else could see the apparition of the man sitting on the young master, and Keitarou was not about to tell them where exactly he was.

He raised a foot and was about to step into the room. However, the housekeeper blocked the entrance vehemently from him.

"No. I've told you that you can't enter." She said harshly.

"Madam, I suppose you do not know your master is in grave danger?" Keitarou asked quietly.

"What are you talking about?" the Housekeeper asked.

"If you want your Master to recover, you should let me in to exorcise the spirit immediately."

On hearing the word 'spirit', the weak young man went into a series of hysterics. Frantic, the housekeeper signaled for the servants. The servants ran in and attempted to pacify the master.

The housekeeper shouted, "Close the door!"

As the sliding door closed in front of Keitarou, he saw the man floating towards the door and giving him a smirk, causing his blood to boil.

Fuming, the housekeeper dragged Keitarou to the side. "What have you done you quack! Out of the mansion! Out!"

"No, listen…" Attempts to explain were futile. Servants grabbed the young exorcist by the arm and dragged him outside. They dumped him unceremoniously onto the ground, before slamming the huge gate on him.

The Onikui watched from the sky as the young exorcist who remained seated in front of the mansion, staring at the space blankly. He had no idea what happened, but his heart went out for the young exorcist.

Keitarou stared at the ground for some time before standing up and brushed the dust off his clothes. His expression was unreadable to the Onikui as he kept looking down, causing his eyes to be blocked by his obscuring bangs.

"Ignorant fools." Keitarou muttered under his breath, before turning to walk away from the mansion in some sort of a daze.

The Onikui looked at the small figure as it walked away. He could feel that the young exorcist was not feeling good. As if on cue, he followed the young exorcist.

* * *

**A/N:** where is the young exorcist going? any guesses? 

Thanx to: Anifantwist and Tsuzuki Yuki who review my every chapter! and Sayuuri for liking my story! (extremely grateful)


	9. Understanding 2

**Disclaimer:** How desperate can a poor student get? If I had owned Tactics, I would have sold it away long ago... No I'm joking. I wouldn't sell it for a million bucks. Then again, i don't own...

* * *

He was used to misunderstandings by all sorts of people.

He was used to being snubbed by his own customers.

Being snubbed by an Ogre. And one who could hide his presence totally from the young exorcist. That had to be the first time.

The Ogre made a fool out of him.

Called him a **cutesy.**

**Sat** on the man he was supposed to exorcise the _spirit_ from, mocking him whilst the rest of the world didn't believe him.

Keitarou was fuming in anger as he walked away from the mansion.

No, 'anger' was probably an understatement.

Throw in some disappointment, indignance and hurt pride. He felt like a cocktail of vile emotions, ready to explode like a volcano.

_Cool it… cool it… Ichinomiya sensei… you can do it…_ he ordered himself silently, as he walked along the streets of the town.

_Blow it out, sensei… blow it out… you have more self control than that…_ he kept repeating the words over and over in his head as he attempted to smoothen his emotions.

He stopped suddenly and attempted to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

_But it really wasn't a matter of anger alone_, the sensible side of his mind started to ring in.

_What? Don't come and bug me after I've cooled myself._ He told himself off.

_What about the poor guy? He's going to die with that spirit inside his room._ The sensible side of the mind persisted.

_That's not my business anymore! They took me for a quack._

_You're a professional! You stick by your principles!_ The sensible side continued.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" Keitarou screamed out, quite scaring the Onikui watching from above. He had never seen the young exorcist out of control before. It was really disturbing.

Really disturbing.

Something in his heart somewhere gave way to a feeling he never experienced before.

His heart ached.

The young exorcist started to sprint. The goblin quickly flew after him, worry visibly etched on a frown upon his forehead.

_That idiot, what's wrong with him?_

* * *

He must have sprinted a long way, for his forehead was drenched with sweat and his knees were shaking from fatigue. 

Keitarou stopped and rested, allowing a few pants to escape from his mouth.

Anger had left him, but he was not feeling good. Something told him that he had forgotten something…

Something… important?

"Oh no!" Keitarou smacked his forehead with his hand. "Onikui!"

He turned and ran in the direction of the river.

The black winged goblin could not help but grin inwardly at the young exorcist's revelation.

"That idiot…" he muttered to himself.

* * *

The young exorcist walked along to the river. 

To his amazement, no goblin was waiting for him on top of his familiar tree haunt.

_Did he really have something on?_ The young exorcist thought to himself idly, before deciding to turn his back and leave.

He got a shock when he turned around.

Because, right in front of him, was the black winged goblin, staring at him in the ever-so-nonchalant expression.

"H…hi!" The exorcist stuttered in surprise.

The stone expression on the goblin remained plastered on his face as he stared at the young exorcist.

"O… Onikui?" The young exorcist began, tad bit guilty that he was late. Quite late, actually...

He smiled feebly while his mind began to fumble for a reason to give the black winged goblin.

"I'm err, sorry… I really am… You see, what happened was I…"

"Got lost in the woods." The goblin finished it for him.

The young exorcist opened his eyes in surprise. It was a lie and they both knew it. He had to find an excuse, and the black winged goblin found one for him.

As if by coincidence.

The young exorcist nodded dumbly and smiled sheepishly, acknowledging the lie.

"That's all right. I can **understand**." The goblin replied with an undertone smirk in his voice. "It's not like I was waiting for you whole day either. I just came back myself. I-"

"Busy with other stuff too?" Keitarou completed his sentence for him, and giggled to himself. The black winged goblin completed it with a mock glare, and a silent smile.

It was a lie they both **knew** it.

* * *

"So, where's this wonderful place you want me to bring you to?" The goblin asked. The young exorcist had promised to bring him to a wonderful place, and requested the goblin to 'fly' him to the place. 

"Don't ask first! Just follow my instructions and bring me there. You'll see for yourself later." The young exorcist replied, refusing to elaboborate more.

The goblin gave a grunt and followed the young exorcist's instructions. Soon, they reached what looked like the center of the forest. Autumn was the season, and leaves were falling randomly onto the bed of the forest floor. The goblin made a landing and they reached the center of the forest, stepping onto the forest floor.

"So, what is there to see?" the goblin asked.

The young exorcist reached forward to a huge and ancienttree, andstroked the bark of the tree. Hereplied. "There's a story behind the trees in this part of the forest."

The goblin raised an eyebrow in surprise, but allowed the exorcist to continue.

"These trees are said to be the Moon goddess's trail to the human world. Every time, when there is a full moon, the moon goddess would follow the trail of leaves down onto earth. And she leaves a mark on each single leaf that she steps on so that she would remember her way back to the moon palace before the sun rises up."

When he finished speaking the moon had just risen high, and moonlight poured in. As the leaves caught the moonlight in certain angles, it gave off light reflections and it looked as though a trail had been formed, all ready for the descent of the moon goddess onto the earth.

The goblin stared at the beautiful arc of light in surprise. He had been around this forest for a long period of time, yet he had never realized this natural phenomena occurring before. Dumbstruck, he took a step forward and attempted to touch the arc of light, awed by its beauty.

The young exorcist turned and smiled at the goblin.

"See? I didn't lie to you. This is a wonderful place, isn't it?" He took out a bottle from his sleeve while staring at the beautiful arc.

The goblin raised his eyebrow at the sight of the bottle.

"What is this?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Something I picked up this morning." Vague images of the terrible morning were coming back to him, but he pushed them firmly down. It was a beautiful night and he was not going to waste it recalling the incident, an exorcist with ethics or quack with none.

"You'll see," the young exorcist said, turning and giving him a conspiring wink. "It's a bonus for your hard work tonight."

Hestroked the bottle and whispered to it. "I'm letting you go now… follow the Moon goddess to her palace and be happy there, ok?" He raised his free hand and removed the cork of the bottle.

Sparks of light flew out from the bottle as the light spirits released danced in joy. They circled around the young exorcist 3 times to express their gratitude, and once around the goblin too, who wasastonished by the beautiful illusions created by them and stared awestruck by them.

The light spirits then danced their way up the arc of light, making it look as if the whole milky way had come down together with the moon goddess and had decided to retreat together with her as the majestic arc of light slowly faded with the disappearance of the moon in the sky.

Both man and goblin stared after the disappearance of the arc of light in silence, tons of things running through their heads.

After a short while, the goblin broke the silence.

"Why do you have the ability to let the spirits like you so much?" he asked, a question directed more to himself than to Keitarou.

Keitarou looked at him in amusement, as if he had just asked a funny question.

"Hmmmm…" Keitarou began, and pretended to be deep in thought. "It comes very naturally to me… doesn't it come natural to you?"

The black winged goblin shook his head.

"Hmmmmm…" Keitarou pretended to think hard again.

"Oh I know! It must be because you look too murderous." Keitarou said with a mock serious look, studying the Onikui's features carefully, and made pretence to study his features very seriously.

"Next time, you must try to look more friendly, like this." Keitarou reached over and pulled the corners of the Onikui's mouth upwards so that it formed some sort of an awkward smile. He then threw his head backwards in a loud guffaw whilst the goblin glared daggers at him.

After a short while however, his laughter faded as he released his hands from the Onikui's face, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly mumbled, almost inaudibly.

"Why?" came the quiet question of the Onikui. Underneath the nonchalant expression, the Onikui's mind was filled with worry.

"While you spent a long time waiting for me, were you angry with me?" Keitarou mumbled, staring straight at the ground, bangs obscuring his eyes.

The goblin went silent for a few moments, contemplating the words he was about to speak.

"Oi." He called for the young exorcist's attention gruffly. Keitarou looked up at the goblin in wonder.

"Yes?" He asked.

The goblin contemplated his words that he was about to speak.

The young exorcist looked at him expectantly.

"I was angry…" He began, looking away from the young exorcist, focusing his gaze on the ground. "When somebody was being scolded inside."

"When I saw somebody being thrown out of the mansion. I saw red. I was fuming." The goblin continued, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"When I saw… you sitting on the ground, staring at nothing. I… I felt pain. For a brief moment."

Silence prevailed over the atmosphere after the last words left the goblin's mouth. The goblin's gaze remained stuck on the ground, as he waited for a reply from the young exorcist.

An angry reply maybe, to tell him to mind his own business.

A short reply perhaps, to tell him not to worry?

No reply came. The goblin slowly lifted his gaze off the ground and looked at the young exorcist.

The face of the young exorcist was priceless.

He was staring at the black winged goblin in shock, eyes shimmeringwith unshed tears.

The black winged goblin was beginning to feel insecure. He did not know if it was his words that made the young exorcist want to cry.

He wanted to ask, but he became afraid.

His heart beat increased by every second, tensed by the silent atmosphere between them.

"I never thought someone would say something that I want to hear." The young exorcist said at last, trying hard to control his voice so it wouldn't break in the middle of the sentence. Tears were threatening to fall, and he was desperately trying to hold them back.

No man cried in front of another. And no exorcist showed their weaker side to non-humans.

Be it a caring goblin who pretends he's aloof or not.

He tilted his head slightly in a lame attempt to order the overflowing tears to flow back, as he stepped forward to close up the distance between the goblin and himself.

He tripped over a huge rock under his feet and fell forward.

The falling impact did not come however, because he fell right onto the Onikui's chest, who wrapped his arms around his waist in an awkward manner to prevent him from falling.

The young exorcist stiffened at the sudden close contact between himself and the black winged goblin, silently cursing himself of revealing another weakness in front of the Onikui. He caught a whiff of the intoxicating scent from the goblin, and struggled in a weak attempt to pull himself away before he got drowned in it. The awkward hand locked on his waist tightening its gripwas making things worse.

His heart began to beat very fast, while his mind was thrown out of the window into a whirlpool of confusion. He also vaguely noticed his cheeks starting to burn red

"I… I…" He began desperately, looking for an excuse for his behaviour. He looked up, only to see the goblinlooking him intensely with feelings of… what? Keitarou could not tell, or he was in too much a fluster to tell.

In his confusion he vaguely remembered shouting "Sorry!" before taking to his heels and sprinting away.

* * *

**A/N:** I've decided to post my chapter a bit earlier because i was really happy! Why? I had 5 reviews for my last chapter! 

heez actually i know, 5 reviews is really a small number compared to other fics around i think, but i'm really happy because i think my chapters are starting to get better! (i hope...) heez... So the conclusion: I must try to write better chappies! (grinz)

Many thanx to: Tsuzuki Yuki n Anifantwist, who review my chapters on the first time basis!

Also thanx to: Ankaris123, animelover and Lanie Kay-Aleese for reviewing and liking my story!


	10. Of Revelations and Omens

**Disclaimer:** If I were talking about my own life story over here, then it would belong to me. (looks at the anime title) No, My name is not Ichinomiya Kantarou...

**

* * *

**

**Of Revelations and Omens**

* * *

_I rested, pining over the lost moment.  
Such was my wish that it could last forever!_

_It was the ardent desire that I held  
Before I realised... I...  
_

* * *

"Kei sama, welcome home." The servant at Keitarou's residence, Yuko bowed dutifully as he came running back. 

For once in his entire life Keitarou had rushed into his room without a greeting back to his faithful servant.

Keitarou slammed the door shut, and leaned against the door nervously, as if afraid someone would break the door open.

His heart was pumping at a furiously fast speed. He panted heavily, clutching tightly to his chest in an attempt to slow his heartbeat.

The images of the Onikui kept coming back into his mind.

_What was it… What was it…_ Keitarou asked himself frantically over and over.

The Onikui was the only being that fully understood him.

They were drawn together by karma.

They do things together.

They spend good time together.

They have good chemistry with each other, with one always knowing what the other wants to say.

But that's all, isn't it? The young exorcist asked himself.

Apparently not, he soon realised in his alarm.

Since when had he, unknown to his conscious, grown so dependent on the goblin's actions? If he did try to do something special, it was for the sake of making the goblin's smile. It would always bring him such amazing calmness and unexplainable feelings in his heart...

_Now hold it for a minute; when did that line come in!_

He closed his eyes and placed his hand on his thumping chest, concentrating hard.

All that came back was the intoxicating scent from the goblin before he pulled away.

He was Ichinomiya Keitarou.

He was a young exorcist who liked to make friends with all kinds of spirits.

He liked to flirt with girls too. He was sure of that. Well, maybe not too often, and none could catch his interest so far...

But still...

He made friends with the Onikui because they had a lot in common.

He did NOT find the goblin attractive.

He was NOT mesmerized by his black eyes.

Neither did he find his finely chiseled features attractive.

He did NOT like guys.

Random lines kept flying in his head as he desperately tried to think of a reason why the blush upon his cheeks hadn't disappeared.

Images swam in front of him soon after, making it impossible to think. His head slowly got heavy, and he collapsed onto his futon.

* * *

"Ohayo! Kei-sama." Yuko greeted her master warmly while setting the table for breakfast.

"Ohayoo..." came the drowsy voice of Keitarou as he staggered out of the room.

"Oh my goodness! What's wrong? You look terrible!" Yuko exclaimed, placing the last plate onto the small table and ran over to place her hand upon his forehead.

"I'm fine… Just a terrible headache." Keitarou replied, giving Yuko a smile.

"Is anything wrong?" Yuko insisted. "You looked really bad when you ran home last night." Keitarou's face heated immediately on the mention of the night before.

"Ohhhhh my head…" Keitarou groaned, lying on the table and hiding his flushed face from his faithful servant."

"Kei-sama..." Yuko began, suspicious of her master. "You're not good at hiding things, you know."

* * *

(In the mansion) 

The young and weak master had been coughing profusely for the past half hour. The servants in the house were frantic, trying to look for ways to calm the young master down. Some were told to go and look for doctors, whilst some were busy spraying 'spirit-cleansing water' everywhere in the house in an attempt to keep evil spirits away. Other servants were running around by the orders of the housekeeper, who ordered them to paste talismans on every single pillar of the mansion.

The ogre inside the young master's room looked at the actions of the servants in disdain.

"Stupid fools." It muttered to itself. "Am I one to be so meagerly handled with sprinkling water and cheap talismans?"

The coughing of the young master stopped for a short instant, and he stared in the direction of the ogre in shock.

"Oh? So you can see me already? Congratulations, Master. You're going to die." The Ogre raised an eyebrow as he asked the question idly.

"W… who are you!" the young master shrieked in fright. The Ogre smirked, and chanted a spell. Black air filled the entire room.

"Oh how cruel…" The Ogre whispered, walking towards the trembling young master. "To not know me after so many months of my company… Why do you think you have been seeing so many spirits lately?"

"You… you…" the young master stammered in fright.

"Why of course… I called them in to accompany you…" The ogre answered, sitting on the futon and placing its hands onto the chin of the young master, who was paralysed with fear.

"You looked like you enjoyed them a great deal, from your reactions of every single spirit." The ogre continued, stroking the young master's hair.

"Who are you, freak!" The young master screamed, summoning his strength to push the vile hand away.

"All right… I'll tell you since that is your dying wish. My name is Ibaragi." The Ogre smirked, and its appearance warped from the spit image of the frail young master to a woman with golden hair. The gold colour on her hair was so seductively bright, it was almost blinding.

The young master screamed frantically for the servants to enter.

Ibaragi shook her head.

"Its no use." She said in a honey sweet voice. "I've put a spell over this room. Your imbecile servants can only hear your constant coughing from outside, making them more and more frantic by the second. Rest well now," she leaned forward and pressed the young master against the futon. "Good night."

With that, she parted her lips slightly and sucked the vital energy from the young master's body. When she had finished, the body of the young master lay limply on the futon.

"There." Ibaragi muttered, some what satisfied. She then laid herself into the limp body and possessed it.

"Matsu san!" The young master called feebly to the housekeeper.

The housekeeper pushed open the door frantically, and rushed in.

"Yes Master? How are you feeling right now?"

"Suddenly I feel much better… I think the evil spirits just left… I felt so much lighter once you pasted the talismans over the pillars…"

"Really? That's really great news, master!" The housekeeper replied, ecstatic that her brilliant idea worked.

"I'll just get the doctor to check on you, all right?" The housekeeper said as she stood up.

"Thanks! Matsu san…" The young master replied gratefully.

"Not at all, master! I'm always at your service!" the housekeeper replied.

As she closed the sliding door shut, the housekeeper missed the face of her venerable master as his lips parted into a devilish smile.

* * *

"Here young man, would you like to have your fortune told? It's cheap, for only 2 coins." An old man suddenly appeared in the streets and stopped Keitarou just as he was on his way to a job.

Stunned at the sudden question, Keitarou simply nodded, though as an exorcist, he was supposed to have known the basics of fortune telling too.

"Sure, Mister. But could you make it faster? I have somewhere to go." Keitarou asked, giving him a sheepish smile.

The old man studied the features of Keitarou carefully, and did a series of calculations. He then shook a bottle in his hand. A small rolled piece of paper fell out from the bottle and he picked it up, reading it carefully.

The old man frowned, his white eyebrows knitted closely together as he studied the features of the young exorcist in immense concentration.

"You've inherited a great family name, but alas, not the great family fortune." The old man said at last, breaking from his concentration. Keitarou raised an eyebrow in interest.

"You've inherited their great divine skills, but alas not their luck."

"You have been bestowed great skills, benevolence, and charm to aid you in the duty that you were assigned to by the gods. But alas, fate is never a good guy that grants people all their wishes."

"What do you mean?" Keitarou immediately asked. He was starting to feel uneasy, about where the divination was leading.

"You carry within you, the task of protecting your most loved by exorcising _him_. You will then live the rest of your life in living hell, hating and punishing yourself everyday for your deed."

Keitarou gasped. He never tried to tell his own fortune, so he didn't know if the old man was truly accurate or not. But the words that came out from the old man's mouth certainly disturbed him a great deal. Now hold on a second, did the old man say his most loved was a 'he'…

"The debt of love that you will incur can never be repaid even by your deathbed, and only seeks rest in your afterlives."

The words bothered Keitarou by a great deal. "Now hold it Mister." He began, speaking as rationally as he could, "That's a huge chunk of information, but how can my most loved be a 'he'?"

_Actually it's very possible._ A sneaky voice crept up from the depths of his mind, and he pushed it firmly down, refusing to look into the possibility.

The old man gave him an enigmatic smile. "I'll suggest you clear things with _him_ quickly so you won't waste too much time, as the time that you can spend together is definitely limited."

The young exorcist's face flushed as he retorted on reflex. "What are you talking about? There's nothing between me and him!" He quickly covered his mouth, vaguely realising the acknowledgment of existence.

The old man gave a huge roar of laughter as he went on his way to the next customer, leaving the presently confused customer to ponder over his words.

The young exorcist just stared dumbly at the old man as he walked away.

_

* * *

_

A/N:I AM quite lousy at giving names... the names of the present lives equivalents are really close, with the exception of the Onikui... but thats because his name was alredi fixed... heehee... 

Kantarou --> Keitarou  
Youko --> Yuko

Tsuzuki Yuki: Yup yup its becoming clearer isn't it? grinz

n1m3-L0v3r: Hey thanx for ur compliments! (blush) no, the end it not quite near yet...

Craze Izumi: Yup I've updated! (grinz) thanx for liking the idea! (happiez)


	11. Unsettled

**Disclaimer:** I've just finished typing my FYP report first draft. That is my true and only brainchild. Unfortunately, it is not good enough to be even near the likes of Tactics... lol... actually, they're of different genres even... LOL..

* * *

**Unsettled**

* * *

_Hold me closer, let me forget I'm living.  
Draw me tighter, let me believe it's not a dream…_

_Marr this thin line between dreams and reality…_

* * *

"Kei sama, you have a visitor." The gentle yet pressing voice of Yuko woke Keitarou from his daydreaming. Keitarou hastily nodded, standing up from his sitting position from which he was reading a book dazedly. He roughly adjusted the folds of his hakama pants and stepped out of his room. 

"Who is it?" Keitarou asked on his way into the main guest hall. Yuko responded by shrugging her shoulders, just as puzzled as her master.

As Yuko pushed open the sliding door that led into the guest hall, Keitarou let out a gasp in surprise.

"What's the matter, Keitarou? Afraid to see me?" The male visitor seated on the floor asked, his back facing Keitarou. He was dressed in similar exorcist clothing as that of Keitarou, and a sword lay by the side where he was seated. He had long black hair that contrasted with Keitarou's silver, and was kept away neatly into a ponytail that reached his waist.

"Of course not, brother! I was just surprised to see you! I have not seen you in ages!" Keitarou exclaimed, his face beaming in delight. The visitor turned around and smiled in response to Keitarou's warm smile.

"You must fill me in about yourself while we have a couple of drinks!" Keitarou said excitedly, giving a hand signal to Yuko who understood immediately to bring out the bottle of sake that had been kept in the pantry for some time.

"A pleasure, my young brother." The older exorcist replied as Keitarou sat down beside him and offered him sake that had just been poured out by Yuko.

"When did you come back?" Keitarou enquired enthusiastically.

"Not too long ago, been back for a couple of days."

"Why the sudden decision to come back?" Keitarou continued chirpily. The question brought a hard knuckle onto his head.

"Owwwwch!" Keitarou winced, followed by a retort. "What was that for!"

"You never learn, do you? My clueless brother…" The older exorcist looked at the younger one with a smirk. His remark caused a blank stare from the younger one.

The older exorcist sighed in exasperation. "Have you forgotten that our Father's birthday celebrations are in 3 days time?"

The words hit Keitarou like a block. "3 more days!" He exclaimed. "Oh no! And I have not even started on finding a gift for Father!"

The older exorcist could not help but grin widely at Keitarou's absent-mindedness. "Isn't it what I'm here for, my muddle headed brother? YOU, are going to stop doing whatever you are doing tomorrow and come down with me to the town to get a present for Father."

"Oh…" Keitarou said quietly. He had planned to go and look for the goblin…

"What's wrong? Are you going to be busy tomorrow?" the older exorcist asked in concern as the younger exorcist appeared to be deep in thought. The voice from the young exorcist snapped Keitarou out of his thoughts.

"Oh no, not at all… I need a break too…" Keitarou replied immediately, flashing what he believed to be a radiant smile to his brother.

_That's indeed what I need… a break… I've been seeing too much of him…_ Keitarou thought to himself as he tipped the remaining sake from his cup down his throat, trying to drown unexplainable feelings felt.

* * *

"Kei-sama?" The voice of Yuko yet again woke Keitarou from his daze. 

"What's up?" He immediately replied, trademark smile plastering onto his face.

"Are you all right?" Yuko asked, voice clearly tinged with concern.

Keitarou looked at his servant in bewilderment. "Why, of course. Why do you ask?"

"Minamoto sama has left." Yuko replied gently.

"I know that-" Keitarou began, before gaping in horror at what he had done. In his daze, he had attempted to pour sake into his brother's cup, which had been removed half an hour ago.

"I'm so sorry!" Keitarou exclaimed. Yuko merely smiled and shook her head, indicating that she would clear up the mess.

"Kei sama, if there's a problem anywhere, you could always turn down the meeting tomorrow with Minamoto sama. To her statement Keitarou merely laughed a strange laugh.

"What problem is there?" Keitarou asked. "I don't remember having a job tomorrow."

"I'm not talking about that." Yuko pressed on. "Shouldn't you have things to clear up with your friend?" to her statement Keitarou's eyes flew open in shock and he looked at Yuko.

"I don't wish to bore you with my talk, but if you have something to clear with your friend, you should do it fast, before your friend feels hurt by you running back without a warning and left thinking whether the feelings are not reciprocated."

Keitarou blushed real hard at her statement. "Wha..."

Yuko giggled. "Haven't I told you you're not good at hiding your own feelings?"

* * *

The older exorcist walked down the streets and turned in what seemed to be a small alley, a shortcut to the little traveler's inn where he was currently lodged in. 

"A little lonely aren't we, handsome?" A voice interrupted him.

The older exorcist stopped in his tracks. After looking around the alleyway and seeing that nobody was around, he proceeded on his short journey back to the inn, his lips inaudibly mouthing something.

_Not yet. Not here._

* * *

The older exorcist remained quiet as he went into the traveler's inn. He made a short greeting to the innkeeper, and proceeded on his way up the stairs. 

As soon as he closed the sliding door of his room shut, he proceeded to remove the sword hung by the side of his hakama pants onto the floor.

"What do we have here?" he suddenly said.

The air around the room appeared to have turbulence as a form started to materialize in front of him.

"It's so difficult to get you around you know, Minamoto _Sama_." The semi materialized form replied in a sweet female voice.

Then older exorcist gave a crooked grin to the statement. "Haven't I very carefully explained to you the consequences if we were to be seen together?"

"It's torturous when we couldn't be together like those carefree days upon the mountains." The form fully materialized into a beautiful woman clad in a radiant kimono, with bright golden hair pinned up in a loose manner, as if it would drop any moment.

The older exorcist looked at the form with longing eyes, beckoning the woman to come closer to him.

"I know… That's why I chose to stay in this inn, didn't I?" He whispered to the girl lovingly, drawing her close. The woman leaned against the older exorcist's chest, head fitting into the curve of his neck. The older exorcist responded by stroking the woman's loose hair idly.

"What would Aiko san say?" the girl in his arms said idly. Without warning, the girl in the older exorcist's arms warped into the spitting image of the older exorcist's wife. The older exorcist's body stiffened at the new face in his arms, facing his guilt.

"I hate it when you do such things to irritate me."

"I do it because you deserved it." The image of the older exorcist's wife replied, smirking as she did so. "How long did I have to wait ever since I had to come back and run all these errands for you? You had a good time alone didn't you, roaming on the mountains without me?"

The older exorcist sighed. "If I could come back together with you, I swore I would have done so even if you didn't allow me."

"Liar." The image of the older exorcist's wife insisted, making a girlish pout to the older exorcist, finger lazily trailing the collar hem of the older exorcist's clothes.

The older exorcist pinched the nose of the woman in his arms playfully. "You're not good at this. Aiko never made such evil faces in front of me. She was more angelic."

"Ah yes. That is true. But I am no angel. I'm evil." The woman in his arms retorted, before warping back into the form that the older exorcist preferred. The older exorcist could not hide his lust as he leaned forward and pounced the woman's lips hungrily.

* * *

_It was a misty fog, and Keitarou had no idea where he was or where he was going._

_There was an incessant chatter of voices, and he strained to make out what they were saying._

_It got clearer as Keitarou walked closer and closer towards the 'source' of the voices._

"_Do us proud!"_

"_As the heir to the Ichinomiya household, you have every responsibility to bring our family name to greater heights."_

"_I don't wish to be the heir." Keitarou said silently to himself._

"_What about brother?" He questioned loudly to the chatter of voices._

"_Do the ultimate that no household has been able to do! And we'll be at the top of the exorcism world!" The incessant chatter of voices continued, obviously ignoring the question that Keitarou had thrown out._

_Keitarou had no idea where the 'conversation' was leading to, but a foreboding feeling forming at the pit of his stomach told him that he should leave the place. His feet however, stay rooted to the ground._

"_Kill the Onikui, the strongest than any other ogre around. We will be the strongest household of exorcism!" the voices pressed on._

"_No! I can't do that!" Keitarou protested loudly._

"_As an heir, you have the responsibility to allow the dreams of our ancestors to come true." The chatter of voices continued._

"_Then I don't wish to be the heir! Brother can be the heir for all I care!" Keitarou cried out._

"_Kill the Onikui."_

"_Kill the Onikui!" the chatter of voices got louder and louder. It was disturbing and the senses of Keitarou was overloaded with the pressing orders of the voices telling him to do the one thing that he is not willing to do._

"_NO!" Keitarou screamed, flinging out a talisman that happened to be in his hands towards what he believed to be the source of voices._

_The voices stopped, and the fog slowly cleared._

_To Keitarou's horror, standing in front of him was the Onikui, with the talisman stuck across his chest just like a venomous dart._

_The eyes of the Onikui reflected a look of betrayal by the young exorcist as his body slowly fell onto the ground, which seemed to open out into a river._

_Crying out loud, Keitarou desperately tried to run towards the Onikui to catch him before he fell into the river forever. However, no matter how fast he tried to run, it seemed that the distance between them never managed to close up._

_The young exorcist could not stop tears from flowing out of his eyes as he saw the limp form of the Onikui fall into the river…_

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The young exorcist screamed, eyes snapping awake into the cool air of his room where he laid asleep. 

His face was wet. Keitarou could not make out if it was sweat running profusely from his forehead ortears that were flowing freely from his eyes.

Keitarou struggled to sit up, and his elbows were propped up against his legs. He brought up his hands and rested his forehead between them.

He felt terrible. The foreboding feeling at the pit of his stomach would not go away.

His heart felt as though somebody had just rammed a spear towards it, causing a huge gushing wound.

He moved one hand from his forehead and pressed it against his chest, trying to will the pain to go away.

Suddenly, he jerked up from his futon and sprinted out of his house.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the break, guys… I have been running a 'report marathon' for I think 2 weeks… then I had gotten myself into a big knot with regards to this story… hence the delay… but I really have no other excuse other than to blame myself for not starting earlier for the report, despite good ol' advice by my mentor… (cry) I only hope I can make it up by writing better… (grinz) 

Anifantwist: Thanx! (grinz) I'm not giving away anything I plan for the story… lol… but I hope you can catch some sort of a hint from this story… grinz… tell me if u can!

Tsuzuki Yuki: Hey thanx for your encouragement! Really happy to noe that you really enjoy my fic! Thanx so much! (smilez)

Firesword: WOW. You're the first person to say I wrote a good summary. (blush)And thank you so much for your suggestions! Please continue to look out for my mistakes and allow me to improve on them! Thanx so much!

Gwynhafra: LOL… I hope I left some sort of hint in this chapter to who you will expect later on… I can't give anything away yet! (grinz)

lazy fat kitsune: Thanx! I hope I live up to your expectations lol…(grinz nervously) please watch out for my mistakes…


	12. Words unspoken, Feelings understood

**Words unspoken, Feelings understood**

_There are some people who speak and always get misunderstood.  
There are some others who can understand each other without having to say a word._

* * *

It was near sunrise by the time Keitarou had reached the place he was rushing to.

The tree. Where he would find an Onikui perched everyday.

Supposed to find.

He has not been looking for the Onikui for a week.

As he ran towards the tree, his heart beat faster with uncertainty.

True enough, there was an Onikui perched upon the tree, looking as though he was asleep.

Well, not really asleep, because he stirred as soon as he heard the small ruffling of leaves as footsteps approached him.

He looked up immediately intently, and immediately met the young exorcist's intensive gaze.

Feelings not made known, yet somehow was understood between the two.

The young exorcist knew. He knew that the Onikui had a choice to fly away, during the 1 whole week that he had avoided the goblin. That fact that he didn't just confirmed that he was waiting for somebody.

Waiting for the young exorcist himself.

Keitarou didn't know to feel lucky that the Onikui was still around when he needed to see him most, or to curse himself for having the urge to see him so badly.

So badly… that when he is finally in front of the black winged goblin, gift of speech seemed to have left his soul.

"Yo… uh… Ohayou gozaimasu." Keitarou managed to struggle out after some determination.

"… Ohayou." Was the reply given to the young exorcist.

Thousands of thoughts were, or had been swimming inside the exorcist melted at the instant he decided to greet the young exorcist morning.

Thoughts like:

_Why did he disappear for 1 whole week?_

_Why did he run away after that night?_

_What happened after that night?_

_Why did I feel his heart quicken?_

Most importantly,

_Why did my own heart feel the ache when he just ran away and disappeared?_

"What a good morning it is! Shall we take a walk along the river?" The young exorcist started, attempting to break the awkward silence.

"Sure." Replied the goblin just as nonchalantly.

As if nothing had ever happened.

It was better to take things naturally, wasn't it?

* * *

The pair were strolling down the huge river when something appeared to have caught the young exorcist's attention. He whipped around, and walked inwards towards the forest without notifying the companion who happened to be lost in his own thoughts as well. By the time the young exorcist's absence was felt, he had already walked quite some distance and was about to disappear into the greenery of the forest. Making a small sound of irritation, the black winged goblin spread out his wings and set to close the gap between the two.

The young exorcist stood in front of a huge, ancient tree and appeared to be staring at the roots of the tree. A black winged goblin flew in from above and stood silently behind the young exorcist, observing the young exorcist intently.

The young suddenly crouched down, and a group of small monsters came out from the roots of the tree.

"Here! Don't disturb the tree again ok? Go and play around! Don't irritate uncle tree anymore!" The young exorcist reprimanded the monsters gently. The monsters obeyed, and scurried off to other places in the forest.

The young exorcist then turned around and looked at the Goblin.

The goblin smiled at the young exorcist involuntarily.

"You know… this tree seems like it has a life of its own. Sometimes I look at it, it appears as though it is trying to tell me something."

"So… What does it say right now?" the black winged goblin asked, trying to act as nonchalant as he could.

The young exorcist smiled, and turned towards the goblin, sitting on the huge rock conveniently located by the side of the tree.

"It…" the young exorcist began, and stopped.

"It?"

"It…"

The young exorcist stood up again, and turned his back towards the goblin. The black winged goblin took a step closer.

Teardrops splashed onto the roots of the big tree, and the goblin realized that the young exorcist was crying.

"Hey, tell me what's wrong, won't you?" the goblin asked, placing his hand onto the young exorcist's shoulder, voice laced with concern.

The young exorcist's lips moved.

"… …"

The goblin looked at the young exorcist intently, trying to make out what he was trying to say.

"I don't … lose you… I… cannot…" barely audible, the goblin could only hear these words over and over in the young exorcist's voice, muffled with silent sobs.

The goblin did not know what was going on in the young exorcist's mind. All he could feel was the pain, the fear in the young exorcist's heart.

He then did the action that was most logical to him at the moment. Using the hand that was placed on the young exorcist's shoulder, he gently pulled the young exorcist in and cradled the young exorcist's head with the other free hand, at the same time wishing that the young exorcist would not break away and run away.

In response, the young exorcist turned and wrapped his hands around the goblin, this time turning it into a full embrace, tears spilling onto the black-winged goblin's shoulder.

"Don't die… I don't want to lose you. I don't… I don't…" the young exorcist continued within muffled sobs.

"I won't. You're not going to lose me or anything. I won't."

It was all the goblin could say as he held the young exorcist like the most fragile spirit in the world, ready to break. The black winged goblin hardly knew why, but his heart ached at the pitiful sight of the young exorcist.

And the goblin then made up his mind then and there.

He was going to protect the young exorcist at all costs.

He would not allow this fragile spirit to have another chance to cry so miserably again.

* * *

Yuko smiled nervously as she poured tea into Minamoto's cup for the infinite time.

It has been three hours since the older exorcist has stepped into the house and there was no sign of the young exorcist returning home yet.

"Uhm… I'm so sorry Minamoto sama, well you see, master wasn't usually like that. He would usually inform me of where he was going if he had to go out, and I would have informed you, but you see I…"

"No worries, Yuko. I understand." The older exorcist interrupted Yuko, waving his palm to emphasize the unnecessary explanation.

Hurried footsteps were heard just as the older exorcist was finishing the last drop of tea from his cup.

"Brother I'm so sorry! Well you see, I don't usually do this. I would usually let Yuko know if I ever have a need to leave the house so that she would have informed you, but you see I…"

The young exorcist was interrupted by the loud guffaw from the older exorcist.

* * *

As the young exorcist scurried after the older exorcist out of the house to get a present for their father, he could not help but recall the little meeting with the goblin earlier.

* * *

Unspoken words, yet feelings understood.

As the sobbing ceased and the young exorcist slowly lifted himself from the goblin, he wondered how long more he could retain in self-denial.

Or maybe he should just admit himself to it.

He, the exorcist Ichinomiya Keitarou, had fallen for the Ogre-eating-Goblin, the Onikui.

_Oh. Crap._

Lost in his own thoughts, the image of a father and a brother whom he was supposed to meet for buying a birthday present swam along the confused thoughts.

_Supposed to meet? Birthday present?_

"Oh no!" The young exorcist suddenly exclaimed out loud, surprising the Onikui that he blinked twice.

"I'll come and meet you again tomorrow!" The young exorcist promised the Onikui, his hand lingering on the other's longer than usual, before the young exorcise sprinted off to the bewilderment of the black-winged goblin.

Watching the young exorcist sprint off, the black-winged goblin could not help but break into a smile.

A genuine smile.

One that had the power to fill the Onikui with warmth, and with it an unknown feeling that he has never experienced before.

* * *

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry. I really am.

I have no proper excuse to defend for my long absence from continuing with this fic. I could not untie myself from the knots I had created for myself. It had been a period of chaotic mess, and by the time I had recovered from it, I had shelved this fic aside.

I have not forgotten about it though. I guess I just needed some motivation, and some will power to sit down and run through my thoughts once again.

Thanks Tsuzuki Yuki, Anifantwist, and the regular readers at the beginning of the story for reading my fic as always! It has been more than a year, I hope you are all fine…

Thanx to AngelAriel, Aoi, DrakenD4, SadomasochisticBloodLust, ShinigamixGirl for your motivating reviews!!

I will continue this story until I've finished what I have in mind for this fic, so wish me luck with writer blocks ;


	13. The Family

**I forgot a disclaimer last chappie XD**

**I. Do. Not. Own. Any. Animation. Period. T.T**

* * *

**The Family**

_We grew up there.  
We knew the rules well.  
We knew the protocol - How to behave, Who to love, What to expect, Where we should be..._

* * *

The atmosphere was solemn, and the people, quiet. No sound was made, except for the occasional chirp of birds, and the silent humming of prayers made.

Keitarou fidgeted uneasily.

"Kei. Stop it." His brother reprimanded in a soft and stern tone.

"Oh. Sorry."

They meditated in the main hall of the Ichinomiya's residence, awaiting the arrival of their father, the head of the Ichinomiya residence.

Truth be told, Keitarou always felt fear when speaking to his father. Being the master of a renowned house of exorcism, this father was hardly around to speak to him and even when he was around, it was always during some formal occasions where children are taught to be seen and not be heard in the public. His father always carried the stern, unsmiling expression on his face and Keitarou quickly learned while he was young, that his father was a distant but nevertheless strict and composed presence.

His brother, a good 10 years older than him, would always be learning skills diligently in the family dojo or practicing his exorcism skills under the guidance of the exorcists in the family. He seemed to be the gifted child in the family whom always earned praises from his teachers. Nevertheless, he had formed some sort of role model for Keitarou to look upon.

His mother was a typical good woman, a role model of housewives in the era they were born in. He was nearly entrusted into the hands of a nanny, who was very good to him and always taught him patiently of all that he needed to know, and were curious about. The servants around him were also patient to him and attended to all his needs. All was good and perfect, yet nobody could fill the space of loneliness in young Keitarou's heart.

It was during these days of growing up that he had discovered the fun side of making friends with spirits. At a very tender age, he had started to see all sorts of spirits, big and small. Instead of being afraid of them as every child would, he would reach out with his small hand and attempt to caress them, just like someone reaching out to an adorable pet. The spirit world melted into the world he lived in, and his best friends all consisted of them.

That was before his father exorcised the whole garden, alarmed by the increasing number of spirits loitering in his residence. Keitarou always remembered that scene. The servants held the precious young master back fearfully as the venerable Master of the Ichinomiya household raged the war with the spirits. It did not matter that the young master was bawling his heart out, wailing for the ritual to stop.

"Kei."

The soft, yet firm whisper reached the young exorcist's ears, warning him back to reality, where he quickly realized that his father had appeared to finish meditation and had appeared as if he was ready to speak.

Old Mr Ichinomiya had opened his eyes and stood up to pay his respects to the ancestral altar placed in front of the hall. Following his cue, the rest of the member present in the hall stood up and bowed simultaneously with the monarch of the family.

"Thank you everybody for your punctuality today," Begun old Mr Ichinomiya, "Before we start, I have an important announcement to make. I have decided that it is time to hand over my position to a successor. This successor shall continue in the important mission of protecting the people from evil, as well as bringing the Ichinomiya clan to greater heights."

Pieces of paper were handed down as each person were to put down a candidate whom they felt would be a suitable successor. Keitarou held his breath as he quickly wrote the name of his choice and handed it back.

_Please let it be anybody but me. Please let it be anybody but me. Please_

Grave silence settled as the servants in the hall were busy counting the votes received. Keitarou watched intently, praying hard that his name would not be listed.

"Minamoto-sama, 5"

"Masato-sama, 3"

"Kouji-sama, 3"

"Genba-sama, 2"

"Keitarou sama, 1"

Keitarou could not hide his shock as his name was announced.

"Very well. All are indeed capable young people capable of receiving the baton from me. We shall now-"

"Excuse me for my rude intrusion, Father." Keitarou interrupted, face down in a low bow.

"What is the matter, Keitarou?" Old Mr Ichinomiya responded.

"Please allow my proposal to remove my name from the list of short listed candidates." Keitarou replied.

"I do not deem it to be a necessary action. Would you care to explain the reason of your proposal?"

"Yes Father. As the results had shown, only one person has voted for my name to be short-listed. In fact, I do admit that I am youngest of the potential candidates and still do not possess the necessary abilities needed to do a good job as a successor. Therefore I implore Father to remove my name as a short listed candidate."

"Point noted. However, from what I have seen, you have shown tremendous improvement over the short period of 3 years that you have moved out and started taking jobs independently. I do not forsee that your abilities will make you inferior in any other way."

"But Father, I-"

"If it is the number of votes that are affecting you in any other way, I will too cast a vote in beside your name to let it be on par with the other candidates."

"But Father, I don't mean this, I -"

"I shall rest my case with the confirmed list of short-listed candidates. We shall be conducting tests and meditations and interviews. I, of course, will be accessing your abilities personally with my own methods." The monarch ended the meeting curtly with his ending speech.

_It seems like we can't get away, can we?_ Keitarou gave an silent sigh as he got ready to leave the hall after his brother.

* * *

"Good evening, Minamoto sama." The servants in the garden greeted the older exorcist politely and the older exorcist returned their greeting with a bow and a smile. It has been a tiring whole day with their Father's birthday celebrations, and when it all ended, it had gotten quite dark and the young masters had to put up in the guest house for the night. 

The older exorcist opened the door of the room and looked around. It was a little smaller, but nevertheless, he had to make do. It beats going back to see Aiko, he guessed. He stepped into the room and closed the door shut with a slight sigh.

"Ooooo, what do we have here?"

The older exorcist looked around the room in surprise. A golden haired apparition appeared behind him and snuggled up the older exorcist's back. The older exorcist smiled and responded by turning and catching the apparition bt the waist.

"What are you doing here?" The older exorcist asked between snuggles.

"Oh... to see you of course, what else?" the apparition which warped into a fully visible woman responded.

The older exorcist slowly pulled the woman apart after some time, and they stayed in each other's arms.

"What's this? Aren't we looking a little tired… and dare I say, stressed?" The woman known as Ibaragi asked, running her index finger in lazy circles upon the older exorcist's shoulder.

The older exorcist gave a slight frown with her question. "Father had announced it. He was going to choose an heir."

"Well isn't it high time. Congratulations, my dear."

"Nothing to congratulate. I was not the only candidate." The older exorcist replied curtly.

"Well well, That's new. Rare to see Minamoto sama being so uncertain of himself."

"He was nominated too." The older exorcist responded.

"Ah, Kei chan?"

The older exorcist removed the woman's hands from his waist and proceeded to remove his sword from his hakama.

"Keitarou is not one to belittle with. He has always been the apple in Father's eye, even though he never seemed to realize it. Not to forget his achievements this young."

Ibaragi crossed her arms. "Oh?"

"Mark my words. Father might just pick him even though he has only one vote, and the least experience in his hands. He mentioned that he was going to pick the successor using his own means."

"Oh?"

Minamoto turned around with a slight sound of irritation.

"What is this show of disinterest?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking Ibaragi, who revealed a slight smirk on her face.

"We just have to apply some strategy to him, that's all. What are you worrying for?"

"But what do we have against him? He's not like Masato or Genba who can easily be settled on a battle of wits. All we need is a hand from you to turn their families upside down. Not to forget Kouji's dirty linen, whom you've exposed so easily. I've no worries for them. But Keitarou is..."

"So I said, just concentrate on your work to be the perfect heir. Leave the dirty work to me. I think I can guess Kei chan's weakness." Ibaragi replied with a smile of victory on her face. "Remember, we have no problems about funding? I have that rich brat's fortune under my control."

Minamoto could not help but let a smile escape from his lips. He pulled Ibaragi forward into a passionate kiss.

"It looks like I could almost depend fully on you, isn't it?"

"What do you think?"

"You sound like its so easy you know." Minamoto asked.

"Well… It's not all together difficult. Remember Kei chan is human, and humans have emotions. What I need is a story to lead him on, and voila, he falls, hah."

* * *

A/N: 

This chapter came a little faster, because the idea was long saved into my pc XD

I hope this chapter is not too much of a cliffhanger, yet interesting enough to get your attention to read on...

ShinigamixGirl: Thanx for loving it!! (blush)  
Ai-chan 13: Thanks! I'm sorry for the long wait... I really am (bows in shame)  
Kiara Angel and Kikaru Light: Thanks!! Yes its coming... I really pray I have no more knots to untie XD  
Goku chan: Yes! I've updated! (hides away in guilt)


	14. Bells

_**Disclaimer: ****I uhm... own... nothing TT**_

**

* * *

Bells

* * *

**

_How far should you go to protect the person u like?  
__How far can you go?  
__How far would you?_

* * *

Beads of sweat ran down the young exorcist's forehead. Just as he thought his formation had completely trapped the powerful ogre within, another had appeared from the depths of darkness and swiped its claws towards Keitarou, causing him to lose concentration. 

Keitarou was fast enough to swipe a talisman across the forehead of the second ogre, but unfortunately, the action had caused him to lose concentration on the formation and the ogre within broke free, rushing towards the young exorcist.

Keitarou did what was most logical at the moment – he threw in his rosary to trap the first ogre, knowing fully well that that would render him without any form of defense should the second ogre break free from the weak talisman.

As hopeless at it looked, Keitarou refused to deliver the fatal blow to disintegrate either ogre. He concentrated and chanted the cleansing spell, wishing in the back of his mind for extra time before hell broke loose.

Not such luck after all, for the second ogre indeed broke free, and began charging towards the defenseless exorcist.

That idiot! The goblin cursed inwardly and stepped in as soon as he saw the second ogre charging towards Keitarou, raising his staff simultaneously to direct a bolt of lightning which trapped the second ogre from advancing.

"Quick! Just kill it!" The goblin called out in anxiety for the young exorcist, whom seem to fall deaf on his words. Instead, the young exorcist concentrated, and tried to pry into the minds of the first ogre that he had trapped in an attempt to seek out real course behind the aradama.

After an unsuccessful attempt, the young exorcist had a narrow escape as he barely managed to avoid the menacing claws of the first ogre. Left with absolutely no alternative, the young exorcist chanted the cleansing spell. The aradama was broken, and with it the spirit disintegrates along, bringing a deep frown to the young exorcist's brow.

"No time to think! One more here!" the young exorcist was jolted to attention of the second ogre trapped by the goblin's lightning, and quickly turned to perform the cleansing spell for the second ogre.

* * *

Keitarou was deadly quiet as he left the place. 

Thoughts were running through in his head, as he tried to think of a logical reason why the ogres were fully controlled by the aradama. There was totally no sign of a conscious mind in which their previous spirit, or form possessed.

Immersed in his concentration, the young exorcist was oblivious to the road he was walking on, who was in front of him, and what was behind him.

The goblin made a sound of irritation and walked to the front of him.

"Ow!" the young exorcist let out a cry, more in surprise than in pain, as he realized he had walked right into the black-winged goblin, and hit right across his chest.

"Onikui! What are you doing!"

"That's my line, idiot." The black winged-goblin responded in exasperation, moving slightly to the side to reveal a huge dark tree that would have become the target of the young exorcist's blind aiming.

The young exorcist gave a sheepish smile as he realized that the goblin had stepped out to protect him from colliding into the big tree.

The black-winged goblin frowned upon the smile. "It's no laughing matter. Were you trying to get yourself killed earlier?" the goblin was talking in a strained even voice, trying to keep his voice in control in midst of the rising exasperation.

The young exorcist too frowned in response. "I know. But I just… What if I've killed an innocent being by mistake? Then I would never forgive myself for that!"

"That's crap! That wasn't the time where you should be thinking about hurting innocent beings! You were that close to the dead. _That_ close." The goblin retorted, his voice a few decibels higher than he had intended.

Indignant by the remark, the young exorcist wasted no time in retorting. "Well it's easy for you to say! Have you exorcised an ogre? Do you even know how ogres become what they are? They started from innocent beings, and only become ogres when their desires become warped! How could you simply deliver the final blow to them, not giving them a chance at all?"

"Well fine. You're the exorcist here now. Go ahead and give them the chance. You'll earn worshippers after your sacrifice!" the goblin continued with sarcasm dripping from his mouth, unable to contain his anger. The angry statement has caused them to shoot angry glares at each other. The atmosphere fell deadly silent as they continued an intense battle of eye-glaring.

The ice was broken only by the faint rings of bells and laughter in the background. Curious despite being fiery atmosphere going on, the young exorcist allowed himself to eavesdrop at the couple which seemed to be approaching their way.

"Hey look, its really lovely!" A chirpy girl's voice was heard as a couple walked towards the young exorcist and the black winged goblin.

"Why do you want a set of bells? Don't you have enough accessories?" A man's voice, possibly the partner of the girl, playfully chided.

"I do. But I want to get a set that I can wear with you." The couple slowly strolled to be in sight. The girl, clad in a simple patterned white kimono smiled lovingly at her boyfriend. With that, she raised her boyfriend's arm and tied the bells gently to his left wrist.

"There. Now I have you belled. I can hear your every movement." The girl shook the bells on her boyfriend's wrist with mock triumph.

"Hmmph! You're not much better off!" The man grabbed the girl's hand resting on his own, and tied a similar set of bells to hers. With that, the little distraction ended as the young couple bypassed the black-winged goblin and the exorcist.

The young exorcist gave a faint, subconscious smile, watching the back views of the little couple. He then turned and faced the black-winged goblin, who still seemed to be glaring daggers at the former. The yound exorcist winced mentally in the unbearable hostile atmosphere built up between them. Pangs of guilt started to eat into him, as he recalled how they had quarreled earlier on. The exorcist did not want to behave like that.

There had to be some way to make amends…

The young exorcist then did something unexpected.

He leaned forward a surprised goblin and grabbed his hand, running towards the nearest marketplace.

* * *

The black-winged goblin rolled his eyes and snorted unnaturally as he tried to hide his laughter. 

Stooping in front of an old pedlar, the young exorcist immersed in concentration. Not soon later, he emerged from the pile with a beaming smile.

"I'll take this!" He said, reaching forward to place the coins into the pedlar's hand. He turned towards the goblin (who was still supposed to be glaring at him), and dragged him by the hand out of the marketplace as fast as their legs could take them.

As soon as they were at the outskirts of the town, Keitarou released the black winged goblin, who was still fixing (or trying to fix) his glare on the young exorcist. Keitarou responded with a meek and apologetic gaze.

After some time, the tension just released, first from the goblin, who could not contain any longer and gave the unnatural snort, louder than he intended. The young exorcist followed, opening his mouth into a wide smile and the 2 burst into loud guffaws of laughter.

"Idiot. I was supposed to be mad at you." the black winged goblin grumbled after the laughter had died down, fixing a mock glare onto the young exorcist.

"I.." The exorcist faltered and gave a sigh, looking for words to say. "I… erm…am sorry?" and looked up meekly to meet the goblin's glare.

"Oh come on, I'm sorry already! Let's not keep quarrels like that, shall we?" The young exorcist pleaded again.

The face of the Onikui eventually softened, and the glare was replaced by a look of pure concern. "Don't you ever try that again."

The young exorcist kept his head bowed in shame. "Yes sir."

"To make amends, your highness, please accept my humble form of tribute." The young exorcist continued in his meek manner, right hand raised up with the "tribute" hidden within the palm while keeping his head down.

The goblin slowly pried the fingers open, and was unable to hide that smile slipping away onto his face.

A bracelet of bells, gotten earlier from the pedlar.

_That imp._ The goblin thought to himself, ignoring the sweet feeling that was stirring within.

"These bells cannot be accepted. You made me run along the streets with you like some mad person to get some cheap string of bells and expect to wear it on my hand?." The goblin retorted, grabbing the bracelet in one hand, and the young exorcist's outstretched hand in the other. With a swift movement, he flipped over the young exorcist's hand and deftly attached the bracelet onto his hand.

After the act was done, the goblin held his hand outstretched and stared expectantly at the young exorcist.

The young exorcist stared in surprise for a few moments, trying to decipher the meaning of the act.

He reached out and took the goblin's hand gingerly, wishing that it would not pull away.

It did not.

The young exorcist untied his old bracelet of bells, and with trembling fingers, he tied it across the black winged goblin's wrist. After the act was complete, he looked up slowly and uncertainly and saw the goblin looking at him with an expression of… what?

"Would… would your highness accept this tribute then?" He asked again, this time in uncertainty.

The goblin looked at him with a gaze that could answer a million doubts in the world. He raised the hand with the bracelets of bells, admired it for a few seconds before cupping the belled hand underneath the young exorcist's cheek.

"Imp."

* * *

A sudden rustling of leaves jostled a light sleeper Onikui out of his sleep. 

Alert to the presence of another being, he quickly flew down from his tree and positioned himself into a defence position in a clear area with least blind areas, and concentrated hard.

Moments later, he swiftly directed a bolt of lightning towards an invisible current of wind, the impact causing the topmost leaves from a nearby bush to be burnt away. The hostile wind abruptly disappeared

The Onikui grinned inwardly at the small victory scored.

"Wow, now that's what I call sensitive reflex actions. You certainly live up to your name, Ogre eating Goblin." A woman's voice was heard, punctuated by light clapping, as if applauding him for an effort well done. The atmosphere in front of the Onikui materialized into a woman with thick, golden hair.

The Onikui stared at the woman warily. The woman was highly suspicious, but he could not point his finger where.

"I don't remember having an acquaintance like you."

The woman responded to his comment by a low, long laugh. To that, the Onikui deepened his frown further and narrowed his eyes.

"Is there anything on my face that you find funny?"

"Well of course. Everything about you is funny." The woman responded dryly.

The Onikui responded just as dryly. "Well thanks for noticing. Unfortunately I do not find myself as funny as you think I am."

The woman cocked her head to one side and mocked an attempt to study the goblin carefully, making the Goblin tense up.

"Strange… strange indeed." The woman said, as if making a conclusion from her observations.

"What is strange?" The goblin asked in a passive tone.

"You don't look as foolish as you are."

"Excuse me." The goblin responded, eyes lighting with flame as he glared at the woman.

"Is that why you are here? To observe me?"

"Oh, that's a cute accessory we have, don't we? A cute bracelet of bells!" The woman's voice flipped serious in an instant. "But on the wrong hand."

"What do you mean?" The Onikui responded almost immediately in defence.

"These bells don't belong to you. They belong to a human, a young exorcist by the name of Ichinomiya Keitarou."

"That doesn't seem to be your business."

"Game for a little quiz?" The woman asked, and without waiting for an answer from the Onikui, she continued. "Do you know the easiest way to make an exorcist stand out?"

The Goblin frowned, but remained silent.

The woman pressed on. "He's just been nominated as 1 of the potential candidates to succeed over his father, the Venerable Master Ichinomiya who happens to head the Ichinomiya style of exorcism."

Silence.

"What was on your mind when he tied this bracelet onto you? Are you thinking the both of you are going to live happily ever after in some desolate village where nobody knows of exorcism nor Ogre-eating-goblins?"

"Nothing was on my mind." The Goblin said firmly, not allowing his face to display more emotions other than a passive face plastered across his face.

"Really? Well then, answer this easy quiz. What would be the easiest way to make an exorcist stand out, stand superior amongst his seemingly more experienced peers in order to claim leadership in his forte?"

"You aren't going to say you don't know, are you? Because if you say it, you become the biggest joke in the whole world." The woman pressed on, giving the goblin no clear mind to think.

The Onikui visibly stiffened at the accusation made by the woman, but made no obvious attempt to defend or refute himself.

What trap the woman had in store for him, he had no visible clue.

"Is that your purpose for visiting me today? Then you can leave after having your laugh."

The woman looked seriously at the Onikui.

"What if I told you, I came to hear an answer from you?"

This woman… The Onikui could not identify if she was friend or foe. He opened his mouth as if to retort, but nothing came out.

"No… he won't do it…" the words leaked subconsciously out of the Goblin.

"He won't? Think about it." The woman punctuated her words with another bout of long, low laugh, which evolved into a hollow echo as her form slowly dissolved into the quiet night air.

The Goblin rushed forward as if to stop the apparition from dissolving, but all he could catch was a few wisps of scent that escaped from the woman.

* * *

A/N:

Ooooops sorrie guys, this chapter seemed like another long wait, but thats because I was trying to be careful not to tangle myself into unknown loops XD

It's embarassing to tell, but I've written 3 drafts for this chapter, each with a different scenario... aniwaes, I hope this was another good chapter, let me know if its not! (prays hard) XP

Ai-chan 13: Thanks! I guess my block this time was not too big this time? XD  
Kikaru light: Thanks for reviewing! hehe, what do you think will happen to Kei? (hmm actually, I don't have much clue myself... hold it, i'm kidding...)  
ShinigamixGirl: Thanks for loving them! (blush)  
Goku chan : I'm late again! X( But i hope you'll love this chapter as well, thanks!  
Cauryn Terenkey and TowaNeko: Thanks for liking it! Thanx for reviewing!

ooops enough nagging from mi... have a nice day!


	15. Kakera

Disclaimer:: I own my old water bottle sitting next to my laptop... no anime... (searches the drawers) nope... nothing...

**

* * *

Kakera**

* * *

_As dreams shatter into the silence of reality  
The broken pieces cut into the heart who screams helplessly in protest._

* * *

The sound of broken porcelain echoed in the big and quiet room.

Keitarou quickly apologised for his carelessness as he bent down to pick the bigger pieces of the mess, so that nobody would notice the expression he carried on his face.

Every other sound paled in comparison to sound of his heart thumping away.

* * *

(Short flashback) 

Keitarou quietly followed behind his brother who had come to call him from his room. After he was being named one of the candidates, he had been requested to move back into the Ichinomiya main mansion.

The 2 brothers joined up behind the other candidates in single file as they proceeded to enter the main hall.

Old Mr Ichinomiya sat in the centre of the hall, his face absolutely straight. Meantime, the servants were busy preparing tea and serving them to the candidates.

As soon as all the commotion had died down and each of the candidates has taken his seat, old Mr Ichinomiya stood up.

"I see that everyone is ready. We shall begin. The purpose of gathering everyone today is to briefly explain the selection process for the position to become head of the household. As the tradition goes for every generation in the Ichinomiya household, we will be conducting the three selection rounds and we will choose the person most competent out of the selection rounds."

Keitarou began to finger everything around him restlessly as Old Mr Keitarou started his speech. He wasn't really bothered about the selection rounds, what tests they had to take, what criteria they had to possess. He had every intention of failing every selection round because truth be told, he really was not interested.

"We will begin by assessing the work done by each and every candidate seriously and from the quality of the work done, we will determine if each candidate is suitable to enter into the next selection round.

In the second round, we will be checking your past records. I'm sure all of you must be aware by now that there's a huge responsibility of honour that the future head of the clan has to carry. The clan and the society, as well as the whole country, will never be able to tolerate a leader of the clan to dishonour himself."

Keitarou rolled his eyes and reached out for his tea cup. _So much about love and honour for the Ichinomiya household._

"And finally, we will eliminate 3 other candidates and remaining 2 candidates will need to accomplish the task exorcising the Onikui."

Keitarou froze.

_Why him?_

"As all of us know, the Onikui belongs to the race of goblins, a far more superior one compared to that of the ogres. As such, it is always more difficult to prevent a goblin from causing harm as compared to ordinary ogres. As the head of the clan, one must not only be capable of exorcising ogres.

It has been a unspoken tradition in exorcism that a clan leader has to be somebody proven to be powerful. If somebody takes over the seat without proving himself capable then the clan is bound to be looked down upon. I'm sure none of us are willing to bear the responsibility of bringing our clan to shame."

The room fell deadly silent.

"But Father, why do you mention 'the Onikui' in particular? If it is just to prove to the society that one is able is exorcise beings above the level of Ogres, why do you specifically state the Onikui as our test subject?" Minamoto raised a hand and posed the question.

"There has been recent sightings of the Onikui appearing in the towns nearby. There hasn't been a case that he has actually done evil, but we won't want to take any chances. Of course, if…"

_"You carry within you, the task of protecting your most loved by exorcising him."_ the significant words from a certain fortune teller rung in the young exorcist's head.

_Was that what he meant?_ Everything seemed to vanish into a mass whitewash, as his brain went into shock.

* * *

He was only jolted back into reality at the sound of porcelain hitting the ground as the teacup in his hands slipped from his hands and hit the ground, the impact causing the precious porcelain to be smashed into worthless pieces. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Keitarou quickly apologized and bent down to try to clear some of the mess. in his troubled state of mind, he gripped a piece of porcelain at the wrong angle and the sharp edge pierced painfully into his palm.

Servants gaped at the sight of blood dripping on the ground and rushed to his side, one cleared the blood on the ground while one tried to wipe away some blood on his hand. Old Mr Ichinomiya suggested that Keitarou receive medical care outside the room despite the latter's protests and the young exorcist was half-dragged out of the hall.

Everybody was too immersed in the leaving view of the young exorcist to pay attention to a smile that slipped off Minamoto's face, silently praising his golden-haired guardian for the perfect plan that she laid.

* * *

(Minamoto's flashback) 

"So, what is this plan of yours? Is it going to work?"

"Why, the confident Minamoto sama so impatient? Why do you rush me so?"

The older exorcist rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "No, I am not rushing you. I just don't like you keeping me in the dark for whatever you're going to do. I don't understand how your prowling at night is going to convince Father."

The golden haired woman turned and looked at the older exorcist in mock surprise.

"Well for your information, I do not prowl at night. And I don't understand well. What do you mean? I'm having no intention of convincing anyone here."

The older exorcist rolled his eyes, this time with more urgency. "What do you mean you're not convincing anybody? C'mon, just tell me your tall plan."

The golden haired woman turned towards and winked at the older exorcist playfully. "C'mon, give me more heat. I love to see your irritated expression."

The older exorcist pressed himself against the golden-haired woman and using his body, pushed her towards the nearest wall.

"I'm so heated up that I'm going to explode. How would you like me to prove it to you?"

"Ho ho, what is this? Intimidation after persuasion?"

"So are you intimidated?"

"Oh all right. I'm building a weakness for Kan chan. Don't worry. I know just exactly what will become his Achilles heel."

"So what is the Achilles heel?"

"The Onikui, of course."

Minamoto opened his eyes in surprise at the revelation. He has known that his brother had a knack of making friends with other beings, but he never knew about the friendship between himself and the Onikui. And a bond between them deep enough to be his brother's Achilles heel…

"Speaking of which, I think you might be slightly shorter by two inches. Do you want to place a bet?" The flow of thoughts interrupted by Ibaragi, the older exorcist turned towards his lover, and gave a soft yet exasperated sigh.

"Sometimes I wish you can tell me more clearly and stop making me guess what you're trying to say."

"But that's what is making it fun. I love to see your irritated expression." The golden haired-woman replied, in the meantime morphing into a massive cloud of white smoke.

As the older exorcist watched, the white smoke gathered again and when the smoke disappeared, the spit image of the Onikui stood before him.

"Cheh. Not so accurate after all. You're much shorter than I imagined." The spit-image of Onikui snorted, placing a hand on the older exorcist's head as if to gauge the difference of height between the two.

To which the older exorcist gave a dry laugh. "What? A default win so easy?"

The spit-image of Onikui pouted. "Yeah. Blame it on your shortness."

"Excuse me." The Onikui responded in defence, and made a mock attempt to study the spit-image of the Onikui. "You should stop that pout. You're spoiling the Onikui's image."

The spit image of Onikui gave a long laugh, and morphed into white smoke again. The image of the golden haired woman appeared the second time after the white smoke had cleared. "It's much easier to talk to you in this face. The Onikui's face is too straight, ugh."

The older exorcist closed the distance between the two and half-grabbed the golden-haired woman by the waist. "So I won my bet, didn't I? Where's my prize?"

"Cheh. That couldn't count. It was not accurate."

"Oh, That's not playing fair." The older exorcist responded, making a face. "Then again, you have not clearly told me why you're role-playing him."

"Oh. I just need to increase the Onikui's rate of exposure. At the rate I'm going, Old Mr Ichinomiya is sure to take note of this higher-being around him and ask you guys to take care of it."

The words suddenly fit into everything that Ibaragi has been doing. All for the sake of Mr Ichinomiya's notice, yet only one sacrificial being required. Knowing his father, his Ichinomiyan pride would never live it down if a higher being actually roamed along the streets of his territory freely.

And the goblin… the goblin would never think of looking for the young exorcist for help even if he was being pursued by so many exorcists, regardless of how deep their friendship, or how much their relationship was worth.

He wouldn't, all for one reason.

He would be convinced that the young exorcist would be on the same side as the rest of them.

------------------------------

Keitarou was in a state of semi-shock as a servant attempted to clean his wound.

"_There has been recent sightings of the Onikui appearing in the towns nearby. There hasn't been a case that he has actually done evil, but we won't want to take any chances."_

Keitarou recalled the words of his father earlier, and slowly allowed the words to sink into him.

The Ogre-eating goblin was one who always carried a nonchalant expression on his face.

The Ogre-eating goblin was one who didn't need any fixed home.

The Ogre-eating goblin was one who didn't need any companion.

He didn't need to stay permanently near the riverside just so a young exorcist could look for him everyday.

He didn't need around for every dangerous job so that he was always there to pull the foolish young exorcist out of danger... did he?

Suddenly, his eyes open wide at the shock of realization.

_**He**_ was the reason that the goblin was staying around for.

He was the cause behind why his father decided to exorcise the Onikui.

All of the sudden, his thoughts seemed to overload and he put a hand to his heart.

Something seemed to crack within him, and the pain was unbearable.

He winced at the pain.

"Master, I'm sorry, are you all right? I'm sorry I should have been more gentle… I…"

"No, it's nothing, Thanks for your help."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorrrrrry... did I take that long? Aiiiiiks... (deep bow) 

Anyway, Happy new 2008 to everyone!  
As a side note, just for the sake of those who don't understand Japanese, "Kakera" means broken or shattered pieces. I used this for a title because it sounded nicer... P

ShinigamixGirl:: Oops did i confuse you back there in the previous chappie? I hope this chapter brings more light! drop me a private note if you're still confused! D  
Alice: ... Oh wow... you really flattered me with your review. Thank you so so much. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of this story too!  
Kikaru Light, MintyFlake and Tsuki chan:: Soo sorry for not updating more often... I've no good excuse to give, but I hop you;ve enjoyed the new chapter! D  
yoru: Thanks for loving it!! yes, I totally agree with you D


	16. Well done here, cutesy

It's been 6 long months and I am still not owning anything...

* * *

**"Well done here, cutesy."**

_Lie of a lie,  
Deception within deception.  
What should you believe in?  
_

* * *

Ichinomiya Keitarou trudged unwillingly behind his brother as the clan made their way to a rich man's mansion for a party that the master had graciously held in their honour.

"Brother." Unable to stand the silence, he hissed a whisper to the person walking in front of him.

"Yes?"

"Why am I here?"

"Why. To attend the party, no?" The older exorcist asked in return, his face greatly confused.

The younger exorcist rolled his eyes.

"I know I'm attending one. I'm asking _why_ I need to attend it."

The older exorcist turned his back a fraction so that his eyes met the young exorcist's. He raised an eyebrow, as if the younger exorcist had asked a redundant question.

"What do you mean why? You're one of the specified guests that the host has invited."

To his reply, Keitarou could only roll his eyes again in silence and walked on.

* * *

Social gatherings have never been interesting.

Keitarou was never a person who was fond of such gatherings. One has to watch his movements and words carefully so as to not break the impression others had.

Keitarou allowed himself to be moved by his father like a piece of moving furniture, as they weaved in between the guests, introducing the VIPs from the Ichinomiya household.

"Ichinomiya sama! Thanks for coming to my humble abode." A man's voice, possibly the owner of the mansion and host of the party appeared in Keitarou's view.

The man's voice caught Keitarou's attention from his dreamy gaze. The man was familiar, but how familiar and why, Keitarou could not point.

"Suzuki sama, thank you so much for inviting us. We are very much honoured." Old Mr Ichinomiya bowed respectfully to the host. As though following a cue, the other members of the Ichinomiya household followed and held their heads bowed.

"Oh no, no. you mustn't. The honour is mine!" The host insisted. "Well, aren't there some new faces I've never met? I have heard the rumours that you have picked your successor! May I ask who the fine and promising gentleman worthy of this high honour is?"

To his comment, old Mr Ichinomiya laughed along with the host. "Well Suzuki sama, I must say you are well informed. In actual fact, we have short-listed a few candidates and are about to pick our future successor from this group of candidates."

Raising a hand towards the nearest exorcist, old Mr Ichinomiya continued. "Here, let me introduce. This is my eldest son, Minamoto. Next to him would be Masato, and this is another son of mine, Keitarou. And over here we-" Old Mr Ichinomiya was interrupted by Suzuki san at the before he jumped to the next name.

"Oh? My goodness! Are you saying that this is Keitarou sama? What a surprise! I mean, I have no intention to be disrespectful, but I had expected Keitarou sama to much older. But for Keitarou's achievements this young, I suppose the nomination must have been well deserved."

"Haha, well Suzuki sama, I thank you for your compliments. … …"

And the party dragged in this fashion till dusk.

* * *

"Please. I can manage my own room." Keitarou said in a strained voice, trying to keep the irritation down. The party had ended really late, and Mr Suzuki had insisted that they should stay the night in the mansion.

"No, no sir, you must be so tired after a busy day. Please, take a rest by the bed whilst we do the cleaning. Would you like us to bring in a basin of warm water?"

Shaking his head, Keitarou slumped bonelessly onto his bed and got the next shock of his life when somebody mindlessly yanked up his right leg and made a grab for his shoe.

"Hey!" He sputtered. "What was that for?!"

"Sir, we're taking out your shoes." The servant replied in an innocent tone.

"My shoes?! They're fine where they are." Keitarou protested.

"But Sir, your bath is ready." the servant continued in the innocent tone, as if it were understood.

Exasperated, Keitarou rolled his eyes. "So, my bath is ready, and all I need to do is stand still while you remove all my clothes?"

"Is that your command, sir? We could arrange-"

"NO!" Keitarou nearly screamed in indignation. "Listen here, I'm walking like a normal person, I feel like a normal person, I can take off my shoes by myself, and I can very well CLEAN myself like a normal person."

"But Sir, we…"

"No buts, listen. I am no mood for a bath now, I'm going out for a walk. ALONE. Keep my stuff where they are and I will take my bath when I come back." Keitarou punctuated his sentence by literally springing out of the bed and half-ran, half leapt out of his room.

* * *

A black figure flashed across the room in which Old Mr Ichinomiya was residing in, alerting the venerable man immediately. He acted promptly and awakened the followers near him and they followed swiftly out of the room into the open garden.

The commotion had caused a few people next to Old Ichinomiya's room to awaken and they had joined in the party, including Keitarou, who had been strolling nearby.

"Father, is anything wrong?" Keitarou asked, surprised to see his father in such a tensed state.

"Something flew past just now, and its presence didn't feel good." Old Mr Ichinomiya briefly replied. Just as he was making the statement, the black shadow flew past again, and this time, it was clear to everyone present that the shadow had two black wings mounted on him. Keitarou's blood froze on the spot.

"Oh gosh!" "Isn't that the black goblin?" "What is he doing here?" the appearance of the shadow created a big ruckus as the people around whispered in bewilderment.

Keitarou quickly responded. "Father, may I have your permission to chase after it?"

"Go."

Keitarou sprinted as fast as he could in pursuit of the shadow. He has been just as confused as everybody else, confused as to why the Onikui would suddenly appear in the place. However, as confused as he was, one iron fact was for sure.

Onikui, the black winged goblin, had the audacity to appear in front of the Venerable Old Mr Ichinomiya.

Knowing his father, he was never going to forgive if anyone tried to create trouble in the very premises that he himself stood.

_What was that idiot doing here?_ Keitarou cursed to himself, as he sprinted in pursuit. He knew that his 2 legs would probably not be a match for the pair of powerful wings, but he knew he had to catch up, by hook or by crook.

He needed to confirm that it was really the black-winged goblin.

He needed to warn him to get out of his father's sight.

He needed to…

_But the bells… I did not feel them… _A sudden realization hit him as he remembered that the Onikui's hand was strung with the young exorcist's unique bracelet… the unique bracelet that he had exchanged with the black-winged goblin…

_I had tied it securely to his hand, surely I would be the first to feel it's presence._

_But I have not felt anything._

_Then, the shadow couldn't have been… !_

He stopped abruptly in his tracks, turned back and concentrated hard.

True to his suspicions, the scent left by the shadow was nothing like the black-winged goblin's.

_Then.. whose is it?_ Keitarou mentally asked. He then closed his eyes again, and concentrated hard on the scent of the being that he had just picked up.

It was a less than familiar whiff, yet somewhat distinctive.

_Well done here, cutesy._

The young exorcist's eyes flew open in shock.

_That Orge!_ The young exorcist exclaimed as he recalled the unhappy incident when he was snided in a particular mansion.

A frail young man who was plagued by an irritating Orge, that he had not managed to exorcise, due to a housekeeper who had insulted him… The young exorcist squeezed his eyes tight as he tried to recall the incident. The events that occured, the house, the names...

The names?

_That frail young man… was Suzuki, wasn't he?_

_The host of the party … ?_

Fear coursed through the veins of the young exorcist as he sprinted back into the mansion. There was no doubt about it, it had obviously been a setup, and from the looks of it, it looks like a setup against the black-winged goblin, and it seems that everybody has fell for it, almost including himself.

_But who's setting the Onikui up?_

_Why is he doing it this way?_

_What is his motive?_

* * *

Minamoto paced in his room anxiously as he waited.

A sudden gust of wind entered the room and the expression of the older exorcist had changed, as if he had anticipated it. He then reached over and shut the open window which the wind had entered and in his haste, did not realise the presence of a shadow who quickly crouched down to remain hidden.

The wind had materialized into a form by the time Minamoto turned around from the shut window. Ibaragi frowned as she took the nearest seat on the table.

Minamoto closed in, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong? Did something go wrong with the plan?"

Ibaragi pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I don't think something went wrong with the plan, but it did not go exactly as I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"I... wait, there's someone."

* * *

A/N: I seem to be apologizing all the time… (sweat)

Sorry for the long wait again… I understand that I was coming near the climax, but really, nothing could come out from my cluttered and un-organised brain, and I did not want to ruin the plot by rushing through the chapter.. :x

I really missed you all because honestly, I really liked your reviews, everyone of them…

**MintyFlake, Ai-chan13, Tsuki, critic, NinetailsKyuu9,  
**Thank you, thank you all so much for liking my fic! I will try my best to shorten the upload time, in the meantime please bear with my slowness :x

**Alice:** oopz, on the contrary, this chapter had none at all (sorrie!), but I hope u'll like it anyway!

**SeikaDragon:** Thanks for liking it! Hmmz truth be told, I did not really allocate a part for Sugino in the fic, and it is a little bit difficult to add in now… for now, I hope you'll continue to like my biased, keitarou-onikui-centric fic.. (sweatz)  
p.s. Muuchan is a guy?? Serious?? O.o..

**Jarield:** Hello! Thanks for your wonderful review! And thanks, really, for liking it! Gosh, I'm really flattered again…


	17. Because I love you?

I'm going to write something cliche, but hey, if I did own Tactics, why would I be writing a fanfic?

* * *

**Because I love you?**

_Because summer has gone, the sky stays blue.  
Because autumn has come, and I left you a clue._

_Because candles are lit, won't you stay for a while?  
Among the lame excuses, I know I love you._

* * *

The Onikui mingled into the bustling street, careful to remain inconspicuous. He allowed his mind to wander into a few days before where he had met up with an old friend, in Keitarou's absence.

* * *

"_Hey, old friend. What have you been up to lately?" A white-winged goblin asked idly. They had met up for a quiet drink on a huge, desolated tree._

"_Nothing. Why do you ask?" The Onikui asked in response._

"_Hmm. I just find it strange that you seem so busy nowadays." The white-winged goblin responded nonchalantly, but it brought a frown onto the Onikui's face._

"_What do you mean, Sugino? You mean you saw me somewhere?"_

"_Somewhere? I saw you everywhere." Sugino responded haughtily._

"_Everywhere? Just exactly what do you mean?" Onikui sat up stiffly and asked again, this time with a stern note in his tone._

"_Yeah. In the streets, along the rivers, all places with bustling people. Your flying stance changed though. I remember you being more discreet in your flights. It seems that you've been garnering a lot of attention to yourself." Sugino responded._

"_What the hell… Why would I be garnering attention in bustling streets?" The Onikui muttered, face turning slightly white. Sugino could only gape in response to the remark._

* * *

"Hey, I saw the Onikui again last night…"

"Oh! Are you serious? Where?"

"I saw him while on my way back from the festival. I thought I had seen a shadow last night…"

"Oh gosh…"

Onikui frowned deeply, but took care not to comment carelessly. Unknown to most people, being an Orge enabled him many powers, one of which was enhanced hearing to hear whispering that was actually not meant for his ears.

_"Go into the towns, the streets filled with people. You'll be able to hear everyone chattering about you, famous boy."_

The Onikui frowned as he recalled Sugino's remark. True indeed, he was hearing many.

And he did not like it at all.

From all the whispering, it confirmed that he had made a name for himself mysteriously. By somebody who was masquerading around as him.

He mentally chided the person for his stupidity. It should be obvious that there were loopholes, shouldn't it?

For one, The Onikui, being a higher being, was cleverer than to fly low in a town to be identified by all, attracting so much attention from the human beings.

He didn't understand why, but he was sure by now that there must obviously be someone trying to pass of as him.

But who would do it? How did he do it?

Furthermore, he could not understand the intentions. Why do it?

In the Onikui's simple network, only two categories are available. Friend or Foe.

The Onikui's enemies are far more simple minded. If they wanted revenge, they would claw him directly.

As for his friends – not that he had many – why would they spread a name for himself?

In the midst of his thoughts, a commotion was heard and people around him looked up. The Onikui did the same and gaped. Coursing across the sky was an infamous black figure. Though the facial features could not be made out, its silhouette was identical to the Onikui himself.

The Onikui wasted no time. He sprinted to an inconspicuous corner where no one would notice the black wings spread out from his back, and gave pursuit.

* * *

"I… wait, there's someone."

The quick-reflex Ibaragi pressed her fingers against Minamoto's lips urgently, turning her head towards the shut window. Counter-reacting on reflex, Minamoto bent over and blew out the lit candle, darkening the room immediately.

A crouching Keitarou frowned. The sudden action from the room is making his brother look more and more suspicious.

He had given pursuit after the black shadow that everybody in the mansion had recognized as the Onikui, but given up abruptly after realizing quickly that the black shadow was not wearing the unique bracelet of bells given by Keitarou himself.

Keitarou had then sprinted back to the mansion, back to the spot where old Mr Ichinomiya had discovered the black figure, trying to find clues that the black figure might have left behind, or rather, clues that could convince him that the master of the mansion is related to the whole incident.

He moved around quietly, trying to tread along the dark shadows so as to not get noticed by Suzuki's nosy servants.

It was then when he discovered an open window at one of the guest rooms, and his brother that peeked out of the window upwards, in an anxious expression, as if he were waiting for something important.

_Why would he be waiting for something with an open window? In the middle of the night?_

A sudden gust of wind swept in fiercely, and appeared to have a will of its own. But Keitarou knew better, because his battle scar was starting to sting, ever so slightly.

_That was definitely no wind._

The gust of wind headed right for the open window, and Keitarou could have sworn his brother's face lit up.

_As if he had expected it._

Minamoto then looked out of the open window and Keitarou quickly ducked down in haste, worried to be seen by his brother. To his relief, his brother did not appear to notice him and shut the open window in a quick, haste movement. Keitarou tip-toed towards his brother's room, and carefully crouched down, hoping to hear something.

It was then when the candle light in the room went out.

Couldn't be… couldn't be that his brother is hiding something… could it?

Much as he wished to stop thinking, it was causing a cold and uncomfortable feeling to sink into his stomach.

After spending a few moments in his crouched position in vain, Keitarou sank into a sitting position, analyzing what was presented in front of him.

An unwelcome shadow, over-exposing and threatening to bring harm to Onikui..

A brother, whose actions resemble almost, that of a guilty conscience.

Not to mention, the ogre-like presence which looked like his brother's acquaintance…

A hand tapped on the young exorcist's shoulder, causing him to turn around in fright. And he gaped.

"O-" He opened his mouth to ask, but the hand moved over to cup his mouth, reminding the young exorcist not to breathe a sound.

* * *

Ibaragi pursed her lips in deep moment of concentration, not heeding that Minamoto was still looking intently at her, waiting for her report.

Everything was almost within what she had expected. She had been doing a great job, raising the exposure of the Onikui. She had received a great response from Old Mr Ichinomiya, and she was proud of that.

So what is this feeling of uneasiness she's feeling? She had sensed that Keitarou had pursued her imitation of the Onikui as she flew out of the mansion, but sharply turned back after a short while.

She was also sharp enough to sense a careful strong presence behind her on her way back to the mansion. But she was not make out who it was, in her hurry to transform and hide into Minamoto's room.

_Did Keitarou run back because he saw through the plan?_

_But how is that possible?_

_I had been careful up till now. _

But anyhow, it could be considered that she did achieve half of what she had intended, which was to bring the Onikui into the limelight.

A shrewd strategist, Ibaragi works out the consequent steps she needs to take. For starters, she knew that she needed a plan to turn the blood between the Onikui and the Ichinomiyas bad, which had been quite simple.

But Keitarou… turns out that she might have underestimated the young exorcist… He is indeed sharper than what she thought…

"Care to share?" A concerned yet getting impatient Minamoto sat across the table where Ibaragi was deep in thought, and gazed intently at her.

Ibaragi stood up, and after making sure no suspicious presence was nearby, gave a sigh almost in relief. She shook her head uncertainly when Minamoto made an attempt to re-light the candle.

"Wait- I am not confident."

"What do you mean you're not confident?" Minamoto asked, not anticipating the response.

"I mean, there is no obvious presence outside the room as we are speaking now, but…"

"So that translates to us being safe, right?"

"I would like to say yes, but no. I am not sure."

Minamoto scrunched his nose in puzzlement, and briefly glanced the window she same in from. "How is that so? I don't sense anything."

"Yes… But…"

"But?"

"I could have sworn I felt something earlier, but it disappeared very quickly."

"You're being oversensitive, aren't you? How many are there in this mansion able to wipe out their traces instantaneously, like you?"

"None." Ibaragi replied at once confidently, then pursed her lips once more. "But…"

"But…?"

As if on cue, Ibaragi sighed. She then glanced at the window and concentrated. The older exorcist seems to be right. "I am just… being prudent."

"Wow. How refreshing. You're hardly so." Came Minamoto's remark. He sounded clearly amused.

Ibaragi snorted, suddenly feeling the stupidity of the conversation.

No other sound emitted from the dark room.

* * *

Failing to catch something out in their currently crouched position, Keitarou raised slightly and attempted to move closer.

The Onikui on the other hand, grabbed the young exorcist by the waist tightly causing the young exorcist to crash back into Onikui. The young exorcist gave an indignant glare to the Onikui, who in return fixed a stern look, warning him to stay still.

After a few moments, Onikui, who still had the indignant young exorcist in his arms, spread his wings and took flight swiftly, quietly without alerting the occupants of the room they were snooping at.

* * *

The Onikui landed at a spot in the forest safely before releasing the iron grip off the struggling exorcist.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Keitarou asked in a raised voice, breaking free of the Onikui and pining him into the nearest tree.

"We had to leave qui-" The Onikui attempted to explain.

"Did you know you're in grave danger? Someone's trying to set you up! Someone's masquerading as you, trying to get me-no, get us to kill you-"

"Yes, I know, but-"

"That someone has always been around us. That someone must have come with a motive!"

"List-"

"That someone could be in my brother's room right now, discussing what next step they should do next and you had to get me away before I could get more information!"

The Onikui rolled his eyes in exasperation. It was really difficult for him to get a increasingly agitated exorcist to listen.

"Do you know that- mmmph!" The angry words were abruptly cut off as the Onikui brutally forced his own lips onto the young exorcist's, the action paralyzing his thoughts, causing his cheeks to burn bright red. Echoes of the rantings ringed through the forest.

Keitarou's mind experienced a temporary shut down as it was suddenly pulled into two different directions. On one hand he was becoming increasingly worried of some sinister plot in the midst of hatching, and he knew he had to protect the Onikui from it. On the other hand the object of his affection had suddenly crashed lips onto his own, locked into a most awkward kiss. Damn, it was totally out of place too.

Keitarou made a feeble attempt to break free from the Onikui's violent kiss, despite his own swelling desire to deepen it, to connect further with the perpetrator. When the Onikui finally released pressure from the soft lips, his hands were firmly placed on the shorter man's shoulders, holding the young exorcist's intense gaze with his own. All was silent.

"Do I finally have the permission to speak, your majesty?" The Onikui asked quietly, hating to break the magical moment after their first kiss, stolen or not.

"O…Ok…" The exorcist whispered, not trusting his voice to stay even. His emotions were really getting confused now, and his heart was thumping away wildly. He had to make a huge effort to stay on the side of logic.

"Yes, I think I am aware that I am in danger. Yes, I did see a '_someone'_ doing a lousy imitation of myself. Yes, I know that the _'someone'_ seems to be in cahoots with your brother, and I am absolutely positive that if you did what you tried to do just now, we would all be discovered and it would be game over."

"Oh." The exorcist responded quietly, allowing his logical mind to take over and analyse the situation once more.

The Onikui had been right indeed. From his previous experience, he already knew that the ogre that was possibly colluding with his brother had powers far more superior than the normal ones. For one, it was able to hide its presence, even before Old Mr Ichinomiya. He recalled the incident where he was even snubbed by it.

Coming to think of it, the ogre had penetrated the Suzuki household long ago with a purpose. And if his brother should really be involved, it only proves to show that they had a detailed plan, only waiting to execute it. It really wouldn't make much sense if he were to expose himself there and then.

"You're right, I'm sorry." The young exorcist finally spoke, sighing in resignation. "I was too rash. We should sit down and think this through for a good counter-plan."

"Exactly." The Onikui finally allowed a smirk to grace his emotionless face, as if to mark his victory. The younger exorcist found himself wanting to smile along with the Onikui, but stopped short, suddenly feeling quite indignant.

"But what was that for?" The young exorcist demanded, pushing off the Onikui's hands in mock anger.

"What was what for?" The Onikui asked, this time his turn to be confused.

The exorcist responded by pointing to his lips indignantly. To which the Onikui blushed in embarrassment and looked around sheepishly, scratching his head for an answer.

"Uhm…" The Onikui started, but stopped.

" 'Uhm?' What kind of answer is that?" The young exorcist mocked the Onikui mercilessly.

"Well, there you were ranting on and on without listening to logic! How was I supposed to pit my words of logic with you?" The Onikui retorted lamely.

"Like real. There are so many ways to shut a person up. You could cover my mouth, slap him, yell louder than him, throw your staff at me, pull-"

"Uh, Okay, fine! I don't know! Because I love you?" The Onikui blurted without thinking, then looked away in embarrassment. Damn, he was never good at words, much less explanations.

_Oh god Oh god oh god oh god…_ Keitarou was ridiculously elated by the Onikui's answer. And he blushed furiously. Though it looked obvious that they had mutual liking, nobody had had courage to confess their true feelings for the other. Keitarou nearly believed that it was only one-sided.

"But you… so uh… You mean… you… you… uh…" Keitarou stuttered, unable to put his words into a coherent sentence.

The Onikui responded by pulling the young exorcist closer to him, and gently meeting his soft lips once more.

The young exorcist simply melted.

Crap. The end of the world could wait until tomorrow.

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A/N: I can't let the bad guys win all the time, can I? My fic won't finish if this goes on! =D

Hi guys out there, I've disappeared for the longest time! I'm terribly sorry about it, not updating for more than a year. But I'm here to make amends… so please forgive me! =X

I mustered my courage to put a kissing scene in… in such an out-of-place location… I can't have Ibaragi and brother making out every time, then poor Kei-chan and Onikui staying conservative, right? =P I hope you won't find it too strange though… kindly review!

Thanks for your lovely reviews. I love the encouragements, everyone of them. I assure you that I will not abandon this fic, for no matter how long I will take!

(Sweatz… I will try to upload faster though… promise… sweatz more…)

**Ai-chan13:** No, you're not wrong. Winkz. =D

**Alice:** Sorry, I failed you… But I will try harder to upload faster! =X

**takara94:** Wow, 3 reviews in a row! I'm flattered. Thanks for your encouragement! sorry about the lateness... =X

**Mintyflake, deathdefy:** thanks for loving it! sorry I took a long time...

**TowaNeko:** Long time no see! Really glad to know you're still on the fic.. apologies…

**Siry Pop:** Thanks so much for loving my fic! I hope I don't disappoint you with my next.


	18. Kinship Objectives Motives

Disclaimer: I do not own Tactics nor it's characters. If I did, you'd better scream in terror... =P

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**Kinship. Objectives. Motives.**

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_-Time skip two days later-_

Aiko, the wife of Ichinomiya Minamoto, could be regarded as the perfect woman figure in the Ichinomiyan household.

She didn't come from a family of exorcism, but nevertheless, from a household of equal social status. No matter where she went, whatever she says, her royal upbringing and dignified air stands out, just like a bright star on the midnight dark sky.

She had been married into the Ichinomiya household since the tender age of fifteen, and had borne the household an heir, the bright prodigy Ichinomiya Kouichi.

Many women would give up all they have just to live the life of Ichinomiya Aiko for a day, not realizing the fact that the perfect woman in their eyes was hardly happy. Soon after the birth of Kouichi, Minamoto had become even busier, and it seemed that he never had time for his loving wife. Being the traditional woman she were, Aiko could only do what was expected of her. She would only wait, and not behave like a spoilt brat by demanding her husband's attention.

That's right, she was expected to wait patiently.

Even if it seemed that the longer she waited, the further her husband would drift from her…

Looking out of the window and watching her son engrossed in intense training, Aiko heaved a silent sigh, the tone in resignation heavier than satisfaction.

"Aiko sama," A young man's voice echoed in the empty room and Aiko turned around, quickly replacing her look of resignation by the expressionless mask of a dignified and proud lady, as the junior mistress of the Ichinomiyan household.

"What is it, Watanabe kun?" She asked the young man kneeling in front of her, keeping his head bowed low. She had a vague encounter with him not too long ago. The young man, then her bodyguard on duty, had valiantly rushed out and pulled her to safety when the roof of a near dilapidated house has tumbled and rubble nearly crashed onto her. Though it was the job of a bodyguard to protect, the valiant act had left a fairly good impression on her, Aiko thought idly.

"I have orders from Old Master to inform you that Master Minamoto will reach home after attending a social gathering arranged by Suzuki sama."

"Suzuki? Who is he?" Aiko asked, successfully keeping the excitement out of her controlled voice.

"Aiko sama, we hear he is a regular patron of our services." The young man replied, not daring to keep his head up.

"I got the message. When do you estimate Old master and Minamoto master would return?" Aiko asked, almost forgetting to keep her excitement out of her tone.

"Ma'am, to that question, we have no definite answer. But from Old master's practices, he usually spends up till three days in such social gatherings, and therefore, it might be safe to estimate that they would be able to return by next week."

"That's a very good estimate indeed. Thank you."

"I will take my leave then." The young guard gave a low bow in respect and exited the room, never once daring to look up at the mistress, and therefore oblivious to the face that suddenly glowed in happiness at the prospect of seeing her own husband soon.

* * *

Keitarou sat by a huge tree, silently analyzing his findings and pondered over his options, if he had any.

The Ichinomiya party had left Suzuki's residence around 2 days ago, but the encounter between Suzuki and himself was still deeply etched in his mind.

_******* Flashback*******_

Dread and anxiety filled the young exorcist's mind as the Ichinomiyan party gathered in the main hall of Suzuki's mansion to bid their generous host farewell. As the young master waltzed out from his inner chambers, he took a long, clear and closer look for confirmation. There was no doubt about it; he was by then very sure that the young man that stood in front of him had to be that sickly man he met when he met _that_…

A smile flashed by as the young master looked in Keitarou's direction, and the young exorcist had to struggle to prevent himself from jumping.

Keitarou could not make out the emotions encompassed within that smile, and it made the young exorcist's blood run cold. It was not a simple friendly smile, but more like as if… like the expression of a predator as it watches its obviously weaker opponent.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Keitarou returned the smile with one of his own and a respectful bow, which he fervently hoped was not too stiff for suspicion.

"Keitarou sama, I must say you don't look too good. Had my servants been ill-treating my distinguished guests?" The young master asked in a casual tone, but Keitarou could not bring himself to look into the young master's eye directly, afraid he'll expose more than necessary.

"I'm all right, just probably not used to having such luxurious treatment, being the uncivilized being I am." Keitarou replied courteously, and attempted a light chuckle while keeping his bowed stance.

"Oh dear, yes I've heard. I'm terribly apologetic about the bath incident. My servants do have a tendency to be over zealous at times. They must have overdone it, haven't they? I'm sorry about the discomfort caused to you."

"Oh no, Suzuki sama, you have done more than enough. We are more than honoured to have enjoyed your hospitality." Keitarou was saved from making a reply as his father beside him responded politely.

As the party trudged slowly out of the house, Keitarou felt his heart momentarily stop when he turned back unintentionally and found the young master's piercing gaze fixed on him, almost paralyzing him on the spot.

_Just like a hawk eyeing on his prey._

_*******End of flashback*******_

_Suzuki… Who on earth are you, and what is your relationship with my brother? How much plotting have you done and how many more are you going to hatch?_

_How much do you know about Onikui and me, and what do you want from us?_

_What is your objective?_

"Keitarou, why are you not resting? We have long way to go, and it's nearly daybreak soon." The knitted brows across his face loosened instantaneously as Keitarou looked up to the owner of the voice in surprise.

"Father, I wasn't sleepy, so I just came here to collect my thoughts and maybe do a little meditation." Keitarou stood up hastily, and gave a respectful bow.

"I see. Take care of yourself though. Are the selection rounds giving you much stress?" The venerable exorcist asked, with an unsual tinge of gentleness in his commanding tone.

_It's not only stress, Father… Though I wish I could tell you more…_

"Don't worry about it Father, I believe I can still manage it." Keitarou responded, offering the venerable exorcist a little smile.

The old venerable exorcist appeared to drop his high and mighty appearances at that moment. He was suddenly an old man, a doting father who placed a hand gently on Keitarou's shoulders, giving him a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry that I have to put you through so much stress. But I hope you do understand Father's intentions when I insisted you remain as a candidate for the next successor." The old man continued in a gentle voice, looking at the young man in front of him, whose identity then a son, his youngest son. He was not a colleague in exorcism, nor was he a contender in the successor selection.

The young exorcist looked at his father in mild surprise. His father had always been that unwielding power, that stern presence that never left any room for such gentleness, such fatherly behaviour. The sudden actions of his then-father warmed his heart greatly to such an extent that, he did so much wanted to confess just then, of his fears, his stress, his brother's possible betrayal.

"Father, I…" Keitarou started, looking at the elder in front of him with an almost pleading expression. The elderly man complied, giving him his full attention.

"I…" Keitarou started just then, but caught himself as he caught a close look at his father's face for the first time in many years.

He slowly took in the gentle and tired expression unmasked from his venerable father's eyes, to his crinkled forehead and sunken cheeks. The area around the eyes had much more lines the last time he observed, and there were also more creases on the forehead. The once smooth face had now become wrinkled. His father's beard, once black and bushy, had also become a pathetic thin wisp with shadows of dirty grey. Keitarou cringed at the realization of how aged his venerable father had become.

"What is it?" The father pressed on.

The young exorcist bit inside his cheek, and kept his overflowing emotions in check.

_Such a grave accusation without proof would do more harm than good..._

More importantly, he was afraid of the kind of impact it would take on his father…

"I'm fine, really." The young exorcist replied, covering the hand on his shoulder with his own, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The venerable exorcist looked at his exorcist with an unreadable emotion, before finally releasing his hold on the shoulder, and straightened his back.

"I'm sure you are. Just don't forget that if you do meet any difficulties, my doors are always open."

"Thank you, Father." Keitarou responded gratefully with a bow as low as he could.

* * *

"_What was on your mind when he tied this bracelet onto you? Are you thinking the both of you are going to live happily ever after in some desolate village where nobody knows of exorcism nor Ogre-eating-goblins?"_

"_Nothing was on my mind." The Goblin said firmly, not allowing his face to display more emotions other than a passive face plastered across his face._

"_Really? Well then, answer this easy quiz. What would be the easiest way to make an exorcist stand out, stand superior amongst his seemingly more experienced peers in order to claim leadership in his forte?"_

The Goblin covered his tracks well as he perched on the tree, doing the one thing he had grown accustomed to at night – watching over the object of his affections.

A tender emotion played across the Onikui's supposedly cold face as his eyes gazed adoringly at the young exorcist who currently leaned across a huge tree, and his chest constricted slightly as the young exorcist's brow knitted in frustration.

_Must be thinking about that phony imposter_, the goblin mused silently to himself.

It seemed that the young exorcist had not yet noticed about the goblin observing him from afar, and the Onikui had no intention of revealing himself as the venerable old Mr Ichinomiya approached him and appeared to engage in a conversation.

A frown settled into his sharp features as he recalled the conversation between himself and that… mysterious woman again. As of late, he had been allowing himself to recall the strange encounter more than he liked.

Try as he might, he was unable to shake off the increasing feeling of dread, fear and… as much as he hated to admit it…

Insecurity.

"_What would be the easiest way to make an exorcist stand out, stand superior amongst his seemingly more experienced peers in order to claim leadership in his forte?"_

The goblin gazed at the young exorcist's small frame from afar once more, admiring the way his soft silvery hair was being tousled carelessly by the cool night breeze. A silent, rueful smile played on his lips.

What would be better indeed than the exorcist successfully bringing back the head of a defeated Ogre-eating goblin?

Much as the goblin was sure that the object of his affection would not sacrifice him for the throne, he just could not shake off the feeling of uncertainty.

Even if Keitarou would not sacrifice him, it didn't mean that he could cease to become the target of the other potential Ichinomiyan successors.

"_What was on your mind when he tied this bracelet onto you? Are you thinking the both of you are going to live happily ever after in some desolate village where nobody knows of exorcism nor Ogre-eating-goblins?"_

The goblin's chest tightened at the chilling thought. He'd never expected that they could have a future together. The truth was, before that strange encounter, the thought simply never appeared in his mind.

He stared at the old bracelet tied on his wrist, and unconsciously, allowed himself to stroke the old fraying ribbon binding the bells and fingering the frayed ends longingly. Now, the mere thought of "tomorrow"was enough to make him feel dread… much more than he had ever felt in his whole life. It was beyond comprehension, and he nearly wanted to laugh at the irony of it all.

_******* Onikui's flashback*******_

"Why don't we leave this place together, since its getting dangerous?" The Onikui asked suddenly, caressing the young exorcist's hair gently. In response, the young exorcist looked up from their embrace and searched the Onikui's eyes for a brief second.

"In honest, I have never considered this option before." The young exorcist replied, after a few seconds of hesitation.

"So will you consider it now?" The Onikui asked again.

The young exorcist took a few moments to ponder on the proposal made by the Onikui. Leaving seems to be a good option indeed. The relationship between Onikui and himself, much as he'd hate to admit, would never be recognized by old Mr Ichinomiya.

"Yeah... we probably should..." The young exorcist started, but bit his lip to stay on the rational side, "but... not now, I can't leave just yet..."

"Why?" The Onikui shot back too fast, though remembering keeping his emotions in check.

"I can't just leave everything now in a mess, especially not after I know that somebody is plotting after the Ichinomiyan household. It's not the wisest time to move."

"So you'd rather stay and subject me to all the plotting, and Ichinomiya household to deal with me for something I didn't do?" The Onikui's voice came out a pitch higher than he had expected, betraying his true emotions. In spite of himself, he cringed inwardly.

The young exorcist looked up in surprise, the large orbs staring into the Onikui's dark ones with mixed feelings of guilt, worry and hesitation.

"I'm... I'm sorry... sorry... but I can't just... leave. Give me a little more time, ok?" The young exorcist pleaded.

Something about the younger exorcist's expression, tone that made the the Onikui's resolution soften and give way. He stared back into the young exorcist's eyes, and gave a small sigh in resignation.

"Fine."

_*******End of flashback*******_

If he had not forgotten that he was lying in the shadows watching the young exorcist in quiet, the Onikui would have very much liked to vent his frustrations in a loud howl.

Had he grown so attached to the man that he would actually _yearn_ for a future with him?

_Tch, you have become soft…_ The Onikui's inner voice chided mercilessly.

The Onikui scoffed bitterly, despite of himself.

_So out of character._

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A/N: I'm sorry this chapter might seem a little boring and not much action at all, but it's there for a purpose...

**Siry Pop:** Thanks! Unfortunately, this chapter doesnt have too much action... Though they are lovers, but they have to keep it hush-hush because of who they are... =(

**Hoshi** and **Alice**: Thanks for your review! Sorry I made you wait soooooo long... hope I'm not disappointing you yet... Thank you for being so patient! I won't abandon the story, I promise. (winkz)

**NinetailsKyuu9**: Thanks! I've updated again! =D

**Sasuke Kouken**, **TheDarkWingedAngel**: Thanks for your reviews! I hope you'll continue to like it! =D


	19. Ichinomiya Aiko

_Disclaimer: Since you guys are not screaming in terror yet you must too have realised long ago that I indeed do not own tactics. keke..._

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**Ichinomiya Aiko**

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The older exorcist exhaled heavily in a barely audible sigh as he dragged his feet back towards the building that was supposed to be his home.

He had finally run out of excuses, and he simply _had_ to return home to face Aiko.

Ichinomiya Aiko, his wife since the age of eighteen.

His wife was a typical good and traditional woman, and would never stoop low to do things that will dishonour the family.

That was partly the reason why Minamoto's guilt towards his wife only increased over time.

When actions become insufficient to atone for his mistakes towards his wife, and words become insufficient to absolve him from his guilt, he does the thing he could do best in.

Avoid.

But he had finally reached the end of his tether, and no more excuses would be made for him.

**_***** Minamoto's flashback*****_**

_-Last night in Suzuki's mansion-_

"Father, you had called for me?" An older exorcist knocked at the guestroom which his father had put up in, and opened the door slightly ajar to meet his father's gaze.

"Come in, and close the door behind you." His father responded curtly.

Minamoto did as he was told promptly, while nagging thoughts continuously disturbed him.

"Minamoto, do you have any idea why you are called in?" The venerable man asked.

"Father, I beg your enlightenment."

"I've noticed that you've returned for some time, but why is it you hadn't found free time to visit your family yet?" His father asked, in a gentle yet firm tone.

"Father, I had some loose ends to tie just then, and I barely had time to catch up with Keitarou as well, so I got a little delayed." Minamoto answered while scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"What kind of loose ends? If you need my assistance in any way, you know I would be more than willing to do so." His father continued.

"Thanks for your understanding, Father. I believe I have mostly settled everything." The older exorcist replied with a smile.

"Well I'm glad to hear that. We'll leave for home together after bidding farewell to Suzuki sama, then you can go back to Aiko then." The venerable exorcist replied.

"But Father, I…" The Older exorcist's protesting voice faltered when he caught the steel, unyielding gaze of his father.

"Minamoto, I'm confident that you've been in the line long enough to know the scope of your responsibilities as a exorcist. I must admit, you're one of the best among your fellow contenders."

"Thank you Father. "

"However, I hope you also understand the scope of your responsibilities as a father towards a son, and husband towards a wife." The venerable exorcist continued in a grave tone.

"I must remind you again that your wife is a very good woman who puts up with all your excuses, your absence, and puts in her best effort to educate Kouichi."

"Yes, Father, I do understand." Minamoto answered, his body bent in a low, respectful bow.

"It hurts me to think that my son is being forced into an unhappy marriage, and at the same time, it embarrasses me to know that my good daughter in law is being ill-treated in my house, a treatment she obviously does not deserve. Son, if you have any problems in your marriage, I'll have you know that I'm more than willing to lend a helping hand to make sure it works out."

"I understand, Father."

"She has not done a single dishonourable act that will allow you to initiate a divorce. I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Yes I do, Father. She has not. Neither does she deserve to be neglected by me."

"Son, you can be honest with me. What's wrong between you and her? I promise I'll help, do all I can to make this work out."

"I…" Minamoto started, and looked away, fingering with the tip of his ponytail idly.

The venerable exorcist nodded, imploring his older son to carry on.

"We… we just really lack… chemistry. I try to be nice to her, but it just cascades into another debt I owe to her. I can't understand her at all, and sometimes, she tries too hard, and…" Minamoto stopped short, feeling the sharp eyes of the venerable exorcist boring right through his soul and looked away hastily.

"I'm sorry. I went overboard."

"Son…" The venerable exorcist started, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You have not forgotten about her, have you?" The venerable exorcist continued in a soft tone. The older exorcist's shoulders stiffened very slightly, as the older exorcist struggled to keep his emotions in check.

"That is not true, Father." The older exorcist responded.

"I hope you still remember your promise to me."

The older exorcist gulped, albeit guiltily. "Yes… yes. I do remember, Father."

"I hope you're not looking her up again. It's time to move on, and you should devote more of your attention to your family. She has most probably moved on as well."

"I understand, Father."

"I trust that you will not betray my trust for a second time; you know the consequences that lie in store. As much as I know that you're the candidate with most potential to take over my position. I have no intention to pass it to a morally incompetent person." Old My Ichinomiya replied in a tone slightly harsher than before.

"Yes, Father. I am aware of that." The older exorcist replied in a low bow, gathering the fabric of his overflowing hakama sleeves into a tight, trembling fist.

**_*****End of flashback*****_**

Minamoto became vaguely aware that he had reached the huge garden behind the huge gates of the Ichinomiya mansion. He turned stiffly towards his father, and gave a low bow.

"Father, I'll now retire into my quarters. If you should need me, please send word to my guard on duty."

"Thank you for the hard work. Go and take a good rest, and I'll see you and your family in the main house for dinner." The venerable exorcist replied, giving his elder son a warm smile.

"Yes. See you in a while."

As the older exorcist turned towards the direction of his quarters, his dejected and unwilling expression did not go pass the young exorcist, whose eyebrows furrowed slightly into a perplexed frown.

* * *

"I'm home." Minamoto announced silently as he stepped into his house for the first time after two years.

"Minamoto sama, you're finally back home. It's been a very long time. Has your training been tough on you?" The young guard, known as Watanabe bowed respectfully to the master.

"Yes, It's been a while. I've never seen you before. Have I?" Minamoto frowned towards the young guard in confusion.

The young guard gave a slight smile before he replied. "Actually Minamoto sama, you have. I have been in the household since ten. It's Watanabe."

Minamoto blinked for a few seconds before the name finally clicked and he smiled at the young guard with more affection. "My, What a fine man you have grown into. It's really been a long time, hasn't it? Five years?"

"That's right Minamoto sama. We haven't seen each other since that time, when you managed to come home in time to perform the ritual for Kouichi sama." Watanabe replied as his head raised slightly from his bowed stance, and the two were sharing a light-hearted chuckle when Watanabe caught sight of a person walking in from behind Minamoto and promptly blushed, keeping his head low back into the respectful low bow.

"Aiko sama."

Minamoto turned stiff for a brief moment before turning back to give his wife a smile and a nod for acknowledgement. Aiko in turn, gave a bright, radiant smile before lowering her head gracefully into a dignified bow.

"Minamoto-sama, It's been a long time. I'm so glad you've made it safely back home." Aiko said in a gentle soft tone, but the happiness that radiated from her tone could not be fooled by all in the house.

"Yes, I'm home. It's been a hard time on you." Minamoto replied, but kept his tightly clenched fists within his long loose sleeves.

* * *

"That's very good, Kouichi. I'm very impressed to see that you're able to control so much power in only one hand." Minamoto said, punctuating his words with applause as he looked at his son proudly.

"Thank you Father!" The young boy known as Kouichi relaxed from his fighting stance and bowed fervently towards his father, the figure he has not seen, but idolized since the young age of five.

In his young childhood, his mother had never stopped talking to him about his father's heroic epic stories, and never faily to update him about his father's continuous achievements. It was this idolised figure that gave him strength, fervour and determination to put in his fullest attention in his studies, and devotes all his time and effort in various forms of training, always eager and ready for more. It was no wonder that he had gained the affectionate petname by his grandfather as the "prodigy child" of the Ichinomiya household.

"We must have a sparing session soon, one to one. I am very eager to test for myself how good your skills have become." Minamoto continued, looking at his son with unspoken pride brimming over his eyes, and ruffled his son's hair in a very affectionate manner.

"Really?! I-" Kouichi exclaimed loudly in excitement, but stopped short as he remembered his place and proper manners, quickly positioned his body into a respectful bow.

"I... I mean, thank you father! I would very much look forward to it! Could you let me know when you would like it to be, so that I can fully prepare myself for it?" Kouichi asked in all eagerness while keeping his respective bowed stance.

"Well let's see... I must too, prepare myself to the best for my worthy opponent, mustn't I?" Minamoto asked, with a loving twinkle in his eyes. Kouichi watched his father in a fascinated expression. He simply adored his father, especially in this rare moment of father-son bonding.

"Lets set it in two weeks time. We will spar here, at this same spot. We need fair judges to precede over this important event, don't we? I'll pick one, and Kou-chan has to pick one judge too." Minamoto continued, giving his son a conspiring wink, unable to keep that proud smile slipping of his face when his bright son's mouth stretched into the widest grin a child could possibly have and nodded in all fervour.

"All right. Kou-chan is younger, so he gets to choose first. Who would you like to invite over to be a judge?"

The prodigy child thought hard before replying shyly, like a child afraid to present the wrong answer to his teacher.

"Uhm... uhm...... Can I ask...?" Kouichi stuttered in uncertainty, then his face lit up as he saw his beautiful mother approaching father and son. Minamoto turned in response and subconsciously flinched.

"Why, you're all covered in dirt and sweat. Have you been training yourself too hard?" Aiko asked lovingly, raising her hand and ruffled the boy's hair before gently wiping a few beads of sweat off Kouichi's sticky forehead. The boy's eyes shone in adoration for his mother before turning towards his father and implored excitedly. "Can I ask Mother to be the judge?"

The older exorcist raised an eyebrow in curiosity before shooting a look at his wife. Her wife as though understanding, poked her son on the forehead before chiding in a loving tone. "Silly boy, it's not appropriate for a woman to judge a sparring session, don't you already know that? And what good will Mother be when watching you and Father spar? I know nothing more than the difference between a punch and a kick."

"Oh." The child blushed in revelation, and looked down on the ground bashfully.

"But since you love Mother so much, shall I make a suggestion for you?" Aiko continued. The boy looked up again, and nodded fervently.

"Let's get Watanabe kun to judge in Mother's stead. He's a valiant guard, and is quite a master of his own in the field of martial arts and exorcism." On hearing her words, the young guard perked up for a fraction of a second in shock before lowering his head again to hide his blooming blush.

"Is that convenient for you, Watanabe?" The exorcist asked, looking towards the young guard.

"Minamoto sama, your humble servant would be more than honoured to attend, but it is not so appropriate-" The young guard stuttered, and was interrupted by his master.

"All right, then Father will too invite Grandfather to grace our sparring session. Watanabe, remember to be fair during judging. I trust you'll be able to do a good job." The older exorcist replied loudly, before turning to give the young guard a smile and a conspiring wink.

"Hai!" The young guard responded fervently while his heart beat harder in anticipation.

* * *

In the night, after the model couple tucked their son into the bed and returned into their chamber, the air between Aiko and Minamoto became awkward and tense once more.

Minamoto became a man of few words once again, as was always when in front of Aiko, and their conversation were restricted within the subject of their son alone.

When words were simply used up and no ideas could flow between the two, Minamoto took to staring out of the window and looked at the starry lit sky in grave silence.

Aiko simply remained silent and took in her husband's tall silhouette, admiring it as she has always had when they have ran out of things to say. Aiko hardly knew why, but she released her obi on her own. She than proceeded to shrug off her richly embroidered kimono and remove the inner clothing layer by layer, until she was finally clad in bare undergarments,

The high and mighty young mistress, then a devoted wife, walked silently to stand behind her husband, and wrapped her arms lovingly from behind.

To this affectionate gesture Minamoto visibly stiffened, and tried to shrug out of Aiko's soft hold.

Aiko's hold released reluctantly, but kept her hands on the older exorcist's waist, holding to the last glimmer of hope.

"Minamoto sama... please." The woman behind him rested her head upon her husband's back and pleaded in a small trembling voice. After a few moments of uncertainty, the older exorcist appeared to relent, finally turning and faced his wife.

He raised the chin of Aiko tentatively, and bent down to connect her lips with his own. The wife of the exorcist gave a slight moan as the kiss deepened slowly, her hands slipping into her husband's robes in an attempt to loosen and remove the layers of clothing. In response, the older exorcist buried his fingers into Aiko's soft hair and massaged her scalp, the action causing the hair pin holding her hair together to loosen and drop, and luscious hair fell right to her waist...

The older exorcist's eyes snapped wide suddenly as his wife unintentionally pressed against a particularly sensitive spot on his left breast. In a frantic motion, he pushed a bewildered Aiko at arm's length away from him. His mouth opened hard, and he took a few huge gasps of air just like a drowning man fighting for air. One of his hands clutched at the spot tightly, twisting the fabric beneath his fingers into a crumpled mess.

"Minamoto sama? My lord, are you ok?" Aiko asked in frantic concern, raising her hand and approached the the older exorcist once more, attempting to check the spot that appeared to be the source of her husband's agony.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Minamoto all but roared, slapping away Aiko's concerned hand roughly. He staggered towards a table placed in the centre of their room, and leaned his other free hand heavily, squeezing the material as though his existence depended on it.

* * *

Keitarou's eyes snapped open midway meditation and frowned deeply, not liking what he was feeling.

His ran towards his room window, opened it wide and concentrated hard.

Pulses of pain ran through his battle scars, and it was getting stronger by the second. He squinted the dark skies with knitted brows, and that's when he felt it.

The offending gust of wind.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is actually sort of a companion chapter to the last chapter, so I was actually working on both chapters at the same time. Hence the short wait this time round! heehee... Don't I deserve a pat on the back? (puppy eyes)

What, no pat? T_T

Any guesses on what Minamoto is up to? I'm sure my clues are pretty obvious though... sorry about the cliffy... I couldn't resist... XP

To my wonderful reviewers, I have decided to reply signed in reviews individually because its more personal and I can know u guys better... =P =P

**Alice:** Yeah it's sad isn't it? I got depressed when writing that section myself. Thanks for loving it!

**NinetailsKyuu9:** Thanks for loving it! Here's the next one =D

Till next time!


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